


Bad Blood |BTVS| Book Two

by BrunetteMarionette



Series: Hell on the Hellmouth [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Character Death, F/M, Friendship, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Sisters, Sunnydale (BtVS), Telekinesis, Twins, Vampire Slayer(s), Vampires, btvs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-05-05 00:35:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 79,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14605287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrunetteMarionette/pseuds/BrunetteMarionette
Summary: ❝ 'Cause baby now we got bad blood.❞Nikki was left to pick up the pieces when Buffy left her behind, broken. Her friends had established themselves as a Scooby Gang as she became more reckless and careless, she was a Slayer without a cause. What happens when a reckless Slayer meets the new impulsive Slayer... absolute chaos.† season three† book two





	1. Anne

Walking into the cemetery I knew I'd find the gang there since Buffy had split they've become like a Scooby Gang. I knew they were all still trying to get me back to normal after the Angel thing but I was okay... I will be okay.

“Cheater!” I heard Xander's voice call and suddenly a roaring vampire jumped out in front of me as I staked him in the chest watching as he turned to dust “another one bites the dust” I punned walking over to my Scoobies I looked at them wide eyed.

“You know you're supposed to stake them right?” I asked rhetorically as they all looked at me bashful “You guys I can do this on my own” I told them putting my stake away.

“Okay, and the, uh, problem I'm having . . .” Xander says as he turns to Willow like I'd said nothing “'Come and get it, Big Boy'?” I frowned at Willow choice of fighting words.

“Well . . .” Willow stammers as we all look at her “W-well, the Slayer always says a pun or-or a witty play on words, and I think it throws the vampires off, and, and it makes them frightened because I'm wisecracking”.

Seeing the look on my face Willow deflates “Okay, I didn't really have a chance to work on that one, but you try it every time” Oz stepped forward “Uh, if I may suggest: 'This time it's personal.' I mean, there's a reason why it's a classic”.

“I've always been amazed with how you guys fought together, but . . .” Xander stops and picks up his bag “in a way, I feel like we took your sisterly puns for granted” Buffy talk again, I wasn't in the mood to talk about Buffy.

Willow gives Xander a scolding look “Xander, past tense rule” I sighed at Willow's past tense rule, I always used it and she hated that “Oh, sorry. I just meant we in the past took it for granted and, uh . . . we won't when she gets back” Xander scrambles as Willow looks at him sadly.

“Do you think Buffy knows school's starting tomorrow?” Willow asks as I walk ahead of them trying to look out for any vamps “Tomorrow. Right. Big day” Oz says awkwardly out loud.

I turn to him and raise my eyebrow but he avoids my eye, he's got a secret “Oh, I'm gonna be busy a lot. But, but only till 3:00, and that's when you usually get up” Willow rambles as Xander looks away dreamily.

“I can't wait to see Cordelia” he pauses looking shocked “I can't believe I can't wait to see Cordelia” I let out a small laugh as Willow bounces excitedly “I wonder what our first homework assignment's gonna be”.

Xander puts his hands on his hips and gives her a look “Hey, you're excited over Cordelia, okay? We've all got issues” Willow pouts as I turn to them with a sigh “I guess we should call it a night”.

"Yes, Boss" Xander agrees with a grin as they all nod following me out of the graveyard “Wouldn't it be great if Buffy just showed up tomorrow? Like nothing happened?” Willow babbled happily as I clenched my fists.

“She can't just show up, she got kicked out” Xander reminded her as she visibly deflated “Well, yeah, I-I know. I just wish ... I wish we knew where she was”.

I turned to my redhead friend trying to sound mad at her “We know where she is Will, not with us, if that's the way she wants it then so be it” I hissed as Willow flinched a little.

“She's not coming home,” I told the three of them as they all looked at me silently “Nikki...” Xander started but I put my hand up stopping him “Just go home and get some rest”.

The three of us parted ways as I thought about my sister's abandonment, I couldn't believe she just left, I needed her and she left me. When Buffy didn't come home that night mom called around, but no one had seen her, she just left.

Mom had been sick with guilt ever since she told me what she had said to Buffy about not coming home and she believed it was her fault but I knew better.

Angel hadn't been around since that night, so either she killed him and left or they're both out there somewhere, together. That last thought made me feel sick.

Opening my front door I flicked the light on and huffed when my mom came running into the hall looking hopeful“Buffy?” I gritted my teeth and put my coat on the hook “nope, just me, again”.

Mom sighed and crossed her arms “I just thought..” she started as I turned to her emotionless “yeah well you thought wrong” mom nodded slowly as we both stood in the hall silently.

“I'm going to bed” I informed mom as I walked past her noticing the look of distress on her face “This isn't your fault,” I said as she turned and gave me a small smile “it's Buffy's”.

Mom's smile dropped from her face “Nicola! Don't you talk about your sister that way” I looked at my mom shocked and I felt my exterior harden again “Yeah, well at least I didn't tell her to leave and never come back” I hissed harshly as I continued to my room leaving my mom behind crying to herself.

* * *

 

Walking into the library I noticed Giles and Willow are behind the check-out counter with their backs to me talking to each other as students rifled through books on the shelves to get their back to school books.

“For God's sake be careful. I mean, uh, I appreciate your efforts to help Nikki keep the vampire population down but, uh . . . Well, if anything should happen to you and you should be killed, I should take it somewhat amiss”.

I lean on the counter as they talk “You'd be cranky?” Willow jokes “Entirely,” Giles tells her dryly “Well, we try not to get killed. That's part of our whole mission statement. 'Don't get killed.'” Willow tells him with a small laugh.

“How is Nikki doing?” I stand up straight realizing they were talking about me “She's getting really mean, she just seems to hate everything right now” Willow answered as Giles nods “Well that's to be expected with what happened to her”.

The phone in Giles' office rings and they both turn to see me looking back at them “Nikki, uh, I've got to” Giles seemed shocked to see me there before walking off to answer the phone.

Willow picks her books up and looks at me “Don't worry about it” I tell her stoically as she nods relieved “Hi!” Willow greets over my shoulder as I turn to see Cordelia smiling at us “Morning Cordy”.

“Hey” Cordy replies as she puts her bag on the counter “How was your summer?” Willow asked as I glared at her wondering why she asked, I didn't care what Cordy did on her own time.

“Oh, I can't believe you brought that up. Las Palmas was the nightmare resort. They order you around and make you have organized” Cordy makes quotes with her fingers “'fun', and I used sarcastic quote marks”.

Cordelia grabs her bag as we all walk out of the library “Plus the fact there are cockroaches in Mexico big enough to own property. It was all about dread. How was your summer?”.

Willow shrugged “Oh, it was okay” Cordelia looked over at me expectantly “Nightmare filled,” I told her simply as she looked at me knowingly “Is Xander around?” She adds looking around.

“Well, uh, yeah. Somewhere” Willow informs as the three of us stop in the hall “Good. Great. I haven't seen him yet” she moves her hair behind her ears “Do I look okay?”.

I rolled my eyes “Oh, yeah!” Willow nods and smiles “How's my hair?” Cordelia questions looking worried “Uh, it's good!” Willow smiles again as they both look at me “Oh I don't care”.

Cordelia just frowned turning back to Willow “He didn't meet anybody over the summer, did he? No, who's he gonna meet in Sunnydale, but monsters and stuff? But then again he's always been attracted to monsters” Cordy babbled before looking worried again “How's my hair?”.

I just let out a loud groan “Hi!” Willow says happily and I turn to see Oz “Maybe he's forgotten me,” Cordelia says to us looking annoyed “Well, I'll just have to make him remember” I nodded slowly as she walks off with a determined smile.

Willow and I turn back to Oz “You came to visit me. You came with books? Are they books for me?” Willow asks looking happy as Oz looks down to the books in his hands “Well, actually, they're kind of for me”.

I frown and raise my eyebrow at him “I don't get it” Oz nods and rubs the back of his neck “Well, it's sort of a funny story. You remember when I didn't graduate?” we both looked at him nodding.

“Well, I know you had a lot of incompletes, but that's what summer school was for” Willow explains to him as Oz looks sheepish “Yeah. Well, you remember when I didn't go?”.

“But you never said anything. How am I supposed to react to this rather alarming news?” Willow asked sounding like she was about to panic “Well, actually, I was pretty much banking on you finding it cute” I looked at Oz like he was dumb, this is Willow, academic perfection.

“Well, traditionally, you know, repeating a grade isn't exactly a turn-on” Willow stops us by the lounge “A-and you're practically a genius. You're Mr. Test Scores. I-it's all a little weird”.

Oz looks at Willow confused “so the cute thing is out?” Xander rushes up to us grabbing my shoulder “Have you guys seen Cordelia?” Willow sighs and shrugs “Yeah. She's around here somewhere”.

“I don't want to come on too geeky, but, uh, okay, I'm psyched!” Xander says flashing a big grin “There's gonna be some heat if you know what I mean, so you guys might want to duck and cover” we all let out a sigh “And I'm starting to be geeky. Okay, bye”.

Xander walks away but comes right back “How's my--” I let out another loud groan/growl “Your hair is fine” Xander gives me a big grin “Cool” he scurries away looking for Cordy.

Leaving Willow and Oz to hash out him not graduation I go and get a soda from the machine as Larry and one of his stupid jock friends stand beside me talking to each other.

“This is our year, I'm telling you. Best football season ever. I'm so in shape, I'm a rock. It's all about egg whites. If we can focus, keep discipline, and not have quite as many mysterious deaths, Sunnydale is gonna rule!” I shake my head at the mysterious deaths part knowing exactly what they were talking about.

Picking up my Dr. Pepper my mind wandered to thoughts about Gage, sigh sadly I knew he wasn't Gage anymore “what's with you” Oz asked as I sat with them I just shook my head watching as Cordy and Xander have an awkward back to school encounter “people are weird”.

* * *

 

Buffy sits calmly on the edge of her bed in her nightshirt, holding a can of Spaghetti-O's in her lap. She just stares blankly into the room, breathing calmly, the silence was enough to drive anyone crazy.

She longed for the sounds of Willow's tinkering laugh, Xander's stupid jokes or god even her sister's angry shouting. Putting her empty can in the trash she walked back over to her bed where her work clothes lay.

Silently she lifted her polyester dress over her head and pulled her hair into two braids, she tugged on her white shoes and picked up her long brown coat.

Walking out the door she made sure to lock it and checked it twice although she didn't have much she didn't live in a good area and the people here would steal anything.

As she walks along the street she notices a homeless man is sitting on the curb as he is approached, a man who crouches down beside him holding out one of his leaflets “Hey, how are you? Can I talk to you for a moment? I have something you might be interested in”.

 

Buffy continues walking and passes a store with a recessed entryway a homeless woman is cowering there “I'm no one” she drones out as Buffy looks at the woman “I'm no one” the homeless woman repeats.

Looking away Buffy tries to hide her face from the woman by moving her hair behind her ear, her expression becomes very sad “I'm no one” she hears the woman say again before she sets back off on her way to work.

* * *

 

Giles is on the phone in his office as Willow, Xander and I sit at the table doing work “Yes? Thank you, thank you” I look up as Giles gabs his coat and quickly comes out of the office.

“I have a lead” he tells us “A friend in Oakland has a-a-a sketchy report of a . . .” he grabs his overcoat “young girl fending off a group of vampires . . .” he grabs his bag about a week ago”.

Giles looks at his watch “There's a plane out in about an hour” I see Willow and Xander exchange a look as I take a deep breath “And what makes this different from the last nine leads?”.

Giles looks at me seriously “Well, I believe there's a meal on this flight” I slam my hand on the table looking up at my watcher “I'm not joking!” Xander places his hand oon my shoulder.

“What Nikki means is, it's just, you get your hopes all up, and then it's just a big fat raspberry, and we feel bad” I look as Xander annoyed that not what I meant at all “But it's good that you're looking, though. You shouldn't give up” Willow adds as Giles looks at us.

“Yes, one must try. Well, I-I-I should go” Giles rush out of the door “You don't think maybe he'll find her?” Willow asked me looking hurt “He'll find her when she wants to be found” I say not wanting to hurt her feelings anymore.

The two of them just look at me “She chose to leave guys, after everything we all went through. You were in hospital and for all she knows you could be in a coma, yet she's not here” I rambled as their expressions didn't change.

I stood up and started to pace “And what if she's with him huh? What if she didn't kill him after Willow's spell worked and...” I stopped as my chest began to tighten “Nikki?” Xander called out as I held my chest.

“I can't breathe” I gasped out as the two of them jumped up “I think she's having a panic attack” Willow yelled as I felt like I was dying, Xander pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair shushing me “You're okay Nikki, you're safe now”.

* * *

 

Buffy slowly walks along the street back to her apartment, behind her, Lily follows her “Anne?” Buffy doesn't respond as she dawdles along “Anne?” Lily calls out louder but still no response from Buffy.

“Buffy?” Buffy stops in her tracks hearing her real name as Lily catches up “Don't be mad. I won't turn you in or nothing. I guess you don't recognize me” Buffy thinks for a moment “Lily?”.

Lily laughs slightly “I mean from before, I was calling myself Chantarelle then. I used to . . . Well, I was in this cult that worshipped vampires, So lame, I know” Buffy grimaces and nods remembering Ford “Yeah . . . I, uh, I remember”.

“But . . . you kinda saved us. I never thanked you or anything” Buffy didn't care about thanks she just wanted to be alone “Did you tell anyone who I was?” Lily shook her head quickly “Oh, no! Not-not even Rickie. I mean, I was so surprised to see you here, waiting tables . . . But I wouldn't tell. I know how it is when you gotta get lost”.

They start to walk again “Do you, uh, do you live nearby?” Buffy says making small talk with the taller blonde “Well, there's a couple of places. Uh, they're abandoned, and a lot of people stay there” Lily says pointing around.

“So how come you came up with Anne?” Lily asks looking down at Buffy's name tag “It's my middle name” Buffy mumbled quietly but Lily didn't notice Lily's from a song. Rickie picked it. I'm always changing anyway. Chantarelle was part of my exotic phase”.

“It's nice. It's a . . . it's a mushroom” Buffy told Lily who looked at her surprised “It is? That's really embarrassing” Buffy gave her first small smile in months “Um, well, i-it's an exotic mushroom, if that's any comfort”.

“Well, before that, I was following this loser preacher and calling myself 'Sister Sunshine'." Lily grimaced remembering all of her old names “What do they call you at home?” Buffy questions but Lily looks away and doesn't respond.

“I like Lily,” Buffy tells her as Lily shrugs “It's cool for now. Hey, do you have any money?” They stop, and Buffy gives her a surprised look “I didn't mean that like-- Well, I just mean . . . I know this guy, he's gonna have this kinda rave thing in his basement. We could go. I mean, I could show you if you had-- 'Cause I'm broke” Lily rambled as Buffy continued to stare at her.

“I-I don't think so. I just kind of . . . I want to be alone” Buffy mumbles as Lily looks let down “I didn't mean to bug you” Buffy's eyes sprung open at Lily's tone “No! I-I didn't, I didn't mean that it's just . . . Well, a-a lot of people like that, it's, it's too much”

Lily crosses her arms and looks very disappointed so Buffy looks down and starts to dig through her purse “I-I do have the money, though, so, why don't you and Rickie go, and then maybe I could meet you some other time--”.

Lily raises her hands and waves off the offer “No. It's okay, it's okay. Forget about it. Just--” A homeless man rudely pushes his way between them. The two girls both stare after him.

“That's not very polite” Lily calls out sounding mousy as the man turns around and looks blankly back at them “Are you okay?” Buffy asks noticing the man had a weird looking in his eye, just like the homeless woman from earlier “I'm no one”.

Sitting with my mom as she is writing out a few bills, I frowned I should have just gone to the Bronze with the gang but I hadn't because lately, things were getting a little boring.

Hearing a knock at the door mom freezes looking over at me “She wouldn't knock on the door” I say as she goes over to the door and answers it.

I raise an eyebrow when I see her face look surprised at who she sees standing there “Uh, hello” she greets whoever is at the door quietly “Hello. Um, may I . . .” Hearing Giles' voice I instantly knew the tip-off he had didn't work out.

“Oh, uh, of course. Come on in” Mom says as I heard Giles step into the house “Thank you” he slowly walks into the living room and smiles seeing me “Hello, Nikki” he greets as I give him a small wave.

“I've, uh, just come back from Oakland. A friend of mine called with a lead. Stories about someone fighting vampires” Giles takes off his glasses as I watch my mom's reaction but she didn't have one “It, uh, didn't pan out, I'm afraid” he concluded as he starts to clean his lenses.

Mom sighs heavily “No Buffy,” she says giving me a look but I didn't say a word this time “No vampires. Bunch of school kids in heavy mascara listening to extremely silly music” I smiled to myself at his words.

“Well, thank you for going,” Mom says as she steps into the living room and crosses her arms “I can hardly, uh . . .” she exhales and smiles weakly “I can hardly leave the house. I'm just afraid she'll call and she'll need my help”.

Giles puts his glasses back on “Buffy one of the most capable children I've ever known. I mean, she may be confused, u-unhappy, but I, uh, honestly believe she's in no danger”

Mom lowers her arms defeated “I just wish I could talk to her. The last thing we did was fight” she admits as she fidgets with her hands “Joyce, you mustn't blame yourself for her leaving” Giles tells my mom kindly as she nods.

“I don't” she takes a breath and looks at Giles intently “I blame you” my mouth drops in shock and Giles is also taken aback by her words “You've been this huge influence on her, guiding her, both of them” Mom continued as she pointed to me as I closed my mouth.

“You had this whole relationship with them behind my back. I feel like you've taken them away from me” Mom explains as Giles looked speechless “That's not fair mom!” I exclaim as the two adults look at me in shock “Giles didn't make us who we are”.

Mom crosses her arms and looks at me seriously as I stand “And who exactly are you?” I take a deep breath looking at my mother “I am a fighter, a protector, a survivor and whether you like it or not I am a bad-ass telekinetic Vampire Slayer”.

Giles just looks at me proudly as I put my hands on my hips “I love you but we can't help who were are and that we're always in danger but the world needs us, I have witnessed the pain and suffering vampires can cause first-hand mom and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy” I cried out as Giles put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

Walking towards my mom I pulled her arms from her chest feeling very much like the adult right now “Just because we're Vampire Slayers it doesn't mean we're not your daughters anymore, it doesn't mean we don't love you”.

* * *

 

A homeless man stirs from his sleep as he hears Buffy come in, but goes back to sleep when he sees it's not the cops, Buffy makes her way through the building, being careful not to step on anyone.

She continues along and soon notices an old man lying on the floor, dead. The same old man that Buffy earlier saved from the truck, next to his head is an empty bottle of drain cleaner, an apparent suicide.

Buffy kneels next to him and feels for a pulse. Nothing. She puts his arm down and sees that there's a tattoo of half a heart on his forearm with a banner across the heart and the name Lily tattooed on it. Buffy looks at the old man, confused “Rickie?”.

Walking back to her apartment Buffy didn't know what she would tell Lily, she knew the girl was going to be distraught about Rickie. Opening the door Buffy sees Lily is there patiently waiting for her to return.

“Did you find Rickie? I thought of—well, he likes to go to this movie house, you can get in around the back--” Buffy interrupts Lily's rambling as she sighs heavily “Lily... I think he's dead,".

Lily looks at Buffy very sad and lost “But ... he takes care of me” Buffy glances as Lily sadly “I'm sorry” Lily still couldn't believe what she had been told “We're gonna get a place. His cousin can get him a job at the car wash”.

Buffy exhales “Lily, there's, there's something else," Buffy sits on the bed “The... the person that I found... was old. He-he looked about eighty," Lily looked up desperately “Well, that's not Rickie!”.

“I'm sure it was. I, I don't know how, but... it was like something drained the life out of him," Buffy explained as Lily looked lost “Do you mean like a vampire?” Buffy shakes her head slowly “No. A vampire couldn't accelerate the aging process. Maybe it was something in his blood,".

Buffy thinks to herself “When was the last time you guys gave blood together?” Lily shrugged “I don't understand. Maybe it's not Rickie, okay?” Buffy stands up “Lily, this is something you're just gonna have to deal with,".

Lily gazes at Buffy flustered "But he didn't do anything wrong! Why would this happen to him? Buffy closes her eyes in annoyance “That's not the point. These things happen all the time. You can't just... close your eyes and hope that they're gonna go away” Buffy noticed the irony in her statement, she too was hoping that her troubles would go away too.

“Is it 'cause of you?” Lily whispers as Buffy looks at her confused “What?” Lily rubs her hands together nervously "You know about... monsters and stuff. You could have brought this with you”.

Buffy tightens her jar very annoyed “I didn't bring anything with me. And I didn't ask for you to come to me with your problems. I just wanted to be left alone. If you can't deal, then don't lay it off on me!”.

Lily can't take it she holds up her hands to deny what she's hearing and walks out of the apartment as Buffy sighs, regretting raising her voice to Lily.

* * *

 

Walking into the Sunnydale cemetery on my patrol I didn't expect to hear to sounds of Cordelia and Xander arguing “Let me just ask you one thing. how long did it take you to forget me? Were you still taxiing down the runway, or was it actually in the cab?”.

I frowned wondering what the hell they were doing, did they want every vampire a mile radius to know there were teenagers full of yummy blood walking around out here “Oh, yeah, Mr. Faithful? You probably met up with some hot little Inca Mummy Girl. Yeah! I heard about her”.

Suddenly I heard Willow scream “Help!” running over to help her I watched as my Scoobies launched into an attack. Oz jumps over the vamp and grabs him on the way, using his momentum to pull him off of Willow and then throw him aside.

Sitting on top of a headstone I crossed my legs and watched from afar, the vamp and Willow both quickly get to their feet. Oz holds up his stake, ready to attack as Willow runs away. Oz lunges at the vamp, but he just diverts Oz to the side and sends him rolling to the ground.

Next Xander comes stake held ready but the vamp grabs his staking arm by the wrist with one hand and his shoulder with the other, and they begin to struggle. 

Cordelia watches them struggle “Xander!” she calls out worried, as she joins the fight, and attacks the vamp from behind, pushing him and Xander down to the ground.

They end up with the vamp sandwiched between them,  Xander on the bottom and Cordelia on the top. With Cordelia's weight on top of him and Xander's leverage against the ground, the vamp can't hold back against the stake any longer, and it plunges into his chest.

He explodes into ashes between them, and Cordelia falls down on top of Xander. The two of them look at each other for a minute before they grab each other and kiss passionately.

Jumping down from the headstone I clap as I walk over to my friends who all look up at me in surprise “did we do good?” Willow grinned seeing my clapping “Oh no, it was terrible, I was just clapping because these two entertain me” I say nodding over to Xander and Cordelia.

Willow pouts as I put my hands on my hips assessing the situation “Okay, here's the deal. I promise I won't tell Giles that you guys nearly got yourself killed if you promise not to tell him I sat here and watched”.

* * *

 

“So you just work us till we're too old and spit us back out,” Buffy said glaring up at monster Ken, the guy was supposed to be a nice guy helping homeless teens but instead he was just another monster.

“That's the plan. See, Lily, you'll die of old age before anyone wonders where you went. Not that anyone will that's why we chose you," Ken taunted as Lily cried but Buffy didn't cry she glares up at Ken “You didn't choose me,".

Ken smirked down at Buffy “No. But... I know you... Anne. So afraid. So pathetically determined to run away from whatever it is you used to be," Buffy looks away “To disappear. Congratulations," Buffy looks at him again “You got your wish,".

Buffy and Lily were soon taken from their cells and herded into an elevator with other teenagers, The huge steel door splits open, the upper half rising, the lower half sinking.

Buffy trips and falls to the floor as the teens are moved out of the bit metal elevator and into a line, a guard explains things to the new recruits as Buffy slowly gets back to her feet.

“You work, and you live. That is all” Buffy grimaces this guard has even less skin on his head than Ken, He's wearing a hood that looks like it's made of human skin sewn together.

His chin and cheeks are exposed flesh and muscle, and he has no lips covering his teeth. Buffy is standing again, holding her head in pain as the guard continues “You do not complain or laugh or do anything besides work. Whatever you thought, whatever you were, does not matter. You are no one now. You mean nothing”.

The guard walks to one end of the group and faces the boy standing there, behind them the elevator doors close with a slam “Who are you?” the guards asks the shaking boy “Aaron” the boy replies terrified.

The guard whales hard on him with his club, and the boy grunts in pain and falls to the floor unconscious. Buffy immediately sobers and stares intensely ahead. The guard advances to Lily “Who are you?”.

Lily whimpers “No one” The guard continues to the next person “Who are you?” the boy looks at the guard fearfully “No one” The guard reaches Buffy “Who are you?” She looks up at him for a moment and then gives him a friendly smile “I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer and you are?”.

The guard is outraged at her insubordination, and roars as he wields back his club to strike her, he swings at Buffy, but she sidesteps him and grabs his arm as he bends over from his follow-through.

Buffy slams her other forearm down on the guard's, breaking it. He falls to the floor in pain as Buffy picks up his club and swings it at another guard, striking him in the head.

She swings again the opposite way at a third guard, hitting him in the gut, they both fall unconscious. Buffy looks over at the group of would-be slaves “Anyone who's not having fun here, follow me” She starts to run, and the group follows her.

* * *

 

Walking upstairs to go to bed I stopped short when I saw Buffy's bedroom door open, standing by the door I sighed looking into her room. Mom wanted it exactly the way Buffy left it “She'll be back” I heard my mom's voice say from behind me.

“I don't care” I grumbled as I turned to look at her with my arms crossed as she eyed me “I don't believe that” mom told me as I shrugged “believe what you want” mom sighed and rubbed her face “she's your sister, your twin, you can't just switch that off”.

“She abandoned me not the other way around," I shouted at mom as her face lit up in realization "she abandoned you," she mumbled as she put her hand on my arm “Buffy didn't abandon you, sweetie, she's upset and having a rough time right now,".

Moving away from her arm I felt angry “She's having a rough time? What about me, mom you wouldn't believe the things that he... that happened to me but did I run away, no?" I stopped and tried to breathe "I have to be here and pick up the pieces of everyone else's lives," I screamed as the pictures on the wall started to shake.

Mom looked around at the walls worried “Nikki please” she begged as I put my hands on my head and shook it "Do I ever get to be upset mom, do I ever get to be anyone else but me?" Mom tried to put her hands on me but I flinched away.

“I'm tired of pretending that everything is okay” I whispered to her numbly as I walked into my room and slamming the door behind me feeling my pain and sadness coursing through my body wanting me to break down but I wouldn't, I couldn't. I was Nikki.

* * *

 

Buffy has finished cleaning herself up in the kitchen as Lily is looking at the folding doors that separate the kitchen from the rest of the apartment “Let me give you the tour” Buffy says as she walks into the main room and slowly turns to face Lily.

“This concludes our tour” Buffy gives Lily a half smile as the girl leans against the wall “It's really nice” Buffy nods and leans against the dresser “All the rent's paid up for the next three weeks”.

She turns around and opens one of the dresser drawers “I spoke to Mitch at the diner," she pulls out her uniform “He said you can start on Thursday," steps over to the bed and lays down the uniform “He's, uh... he's kind of... repulsive, but, uh, he won't give you a hard time,".

Lily sits down on the bed and grazes her hand over the uniform “Um... I'll call and check up on you” Buffy tells Lily sounding awkward “I'm not... great” she looks at Buffy “at taking care of myself”.

Buffy smiles and nods “Gets easier. Takes practice” She looks down sadly, Lily knows the feeling. She looks back down at the uniform and the name tag pinned to it. “Hey...”.

Buffy looks at her “Can I be 'Anne'?” the girls both give each other a smile not knowing the impact they've had on each other. Buffy grins with a nod and grabs her bag as she gives the apartment one last look.

The sun shone brightly as Buffy made her way to the bus station to catch the greyhound, after everything she had been through in the last few hours she knew what she wanted and she had made her decision, she was going back to Sunnydale.

* * *

 

“Nikki! Can you help me here?” Mom demands as I roll my eyes at her, she is trying to get a stuck utensil out of the dishwasher, like that was a two-person job “Sure” I mumbled putting my spoon down in my cereal bowl.

Mom and I acted like the things I said last night never happened. I guess that just how things worked around here, Buffy and I would say something emotional or life-changing and mom would get amnesia about it.

There's a knock at the door, and mom looks at me startled “I can't do both” I told her as she frowned at me “We need to talk about this attitude soon” she tells me leaving the kitchen to answer the door.

I pull the rouge fork out of the dishwasher and lay it down on the counter. Hearing a gasp I picked up a towel and head for the front door, wiping my hands. Throwing the towel over a chair I continue to the door.

Looking at my mom's back I wonder who is at the door, walking closer my stomach tightens seeing Buffy stood in the doorway looking sad, tired and disheveled. For a long moment, Mom and Buffy stared at each other without saying a word.

Then they step toward each other and hold each other close for a long, tight embrace as I stand behind them not knowing how to feel or what to do “Nikki” Buffy whispers as they pull apart and she looks at me desperately.

I eye my sister carefully before turning around and walking away to my room closing the door behind me as I heard Buffy calling my name out sadly as I sit on my bed and pull my knees up to my chest “She's back”.

* * *

**Welcome back everyone!**

**I hope you enjoyed this first chapter in the newest BTVS book, Bad Blood.**

**I'm so happy with all the messages you guys have been sending me so thank you :D**


	2. Dead Man’s Party

Hearing a banging noise I grabbed my jacket and walked into my mom's room where she and Buffy stood looking at a hole in the wall, both looking awkward and guilty "Nice. adds a touch of class to the room" I snigger as my mom gives me the eye.

She looks down at the mask in her hand and turns around to hang it on the wall over the hole. It's carved from a reddish wood with cutouts for eyes, which are slanted inward to appear very evil.   
  
There is a series of long, pointed teeth with extra long fangs for incisors set into the upper lip, there is no lower jaw portion "Uh, look!" mom exclaims as she hangs the mask on its hook "It's, uh, Nigerian".  
  
"We got a very exciting shipment in at the Gallery. I, um, thought I'd hang a few pieces in here. It cheers up the room," I raise my eyebrow at my mom's explanation of her artwork "It's angry at the room, Mom. It wants the room to suffer," I retort as my mom nods with a huff "You have no appreciation of primitive art,".  
  
She looks over to Buffy apprehensively "You going out?" I look at my sister and noticed she was holding a sweater looking uneasy "Oh. Um... well, i-if it's okay. I, um... I'd like to find Willow and Xander".  
  
Mom gives Buffy a small smile before she looks at me and notices I'm dressed to go out too "Oh no missy, you are not going out" my mouth drops open in shock "why the hell not?".  
  
Mom sighs and crosses her arms "That's why, your sudden attitude and you've been rude to your sister ever since she came home," I breathed angrily feeling like I wanted to spit fire "Oh so she does a disappearing act and yet I'm in trouble?".  
  
I put my hands on my hips as Mom and I stared each other down " _Fine_ " I hissed giving Buffy a dirty look as I walk out of the room "Will you be slaying?" I heard Mom ask Buffy as I stood by the door where they couldn't see me.  
  
"Only if they give me lip," Buffy says weakly "Well, then, um... You know, w-why don't I drive you?" Mom asked as I heard keys jangling "Uh, I mean, they could be anywhere,".  
  
"Mom... if you don't want me to go, just say so. I could just say here a try to talk with Nikki," Buffy offered as my eyes widened "let her go!" I shouted hearing a sad sigh come from the other side of the door.  
  
"Bedroom, Nikki" Mom ordered as I smirked walking to my room and shutting the door, putting my radio on loud enough Mom would know I wasn't in the mood to talk but not loud enough she would come in to turn it down.  
  
Sliding my window up I jumped out and landed gracefully on the ground and walking away with a smirk knowing my mother wouldn't even know I was missing.  
  


* * *

  
  
The gang is silent as they all stand outside Giles' apartment building "You know, I—maybe it's too late. Maybe we should just come back tomorrow" Buffy says, but no one makes a move to go. Buffy looks at the door, then back at the others "What if he's mad?" she whispered upset.  
  
"Mad? Just because you ran away and abandoned your post and your friends, your sister who needed you. Made your mom, and him lay awake every night worrying about you?" Xander exclaimed before looking at Oz and Willow "Maybe we should wait out here,".  
  
Buffy gives him a look as she turns around to face the door, reaches for the knocker and taps it a few times. Giles opens the door and sees Buffy standing there flanked by the others, his face remains expressionless for a long moment.  
  
"Check it out. The Watcher is back on the clock," Xander awkwardly laughs as Giles slips on his glasses "And just when you were thinking career change, maybe becoming a... a looker or a... a seer,".  
  
"Thank you, Xander" Giles mutter as he looks at Buffy "Welcome home, Buffy" Buffy smiles up at him as he pulls the door open further and steps back so they can all come in.  
  
Giles puts the kettle on as everyone sits in his living room "I got in a few hours ago, but I wanted to go see my mom & Nikki first" Buffy said as the other looked at each other awkwardly unknown to Buffy.  
  
"Yes. Yes, of course. How, how did you find her?" Giles asks as Buffy smiles at him "Well, I pretty much remembered the address," Giles lets out a small laugh missing her jokes "Ah, eh, I mean, uh...".  
  
The teakettle in his kitchen whistles "How are things between you?" he notices the whistling "Ah. Excuse me" he stands and goes into the kitchen "Hey, so you're not wanted for murder anymore," Oz tells Buffy breaking the silence as she smiles gratefully "Good. That was such a drag".  
  
"So where were you? Did you go to Belgium?" Buffy gives Xander an odd look "Why would I go to Belgium?" Xander shrugs at his friend "I think the relevant question is why wouldn't you?" he smiles widely and giggles "Belgium!" They both laugh.  
  
Giles gets the cups out of his cupboard. He smiles as he listens to the conversation in the living room, pleased that they are getting along so well again so quickly but the nagging thought of how he was going to tell Buffy about Nikki, he and the younger Slayer had gotten closer in Buffy's absence and since her attack he'd become more protective of her, Nikki's blasé attitude to her trauma wasn't fooling him.  
  
"What about you, Xander? What's up with you?" Buffy ponders as Xander shrugs "Oh, you know, same old, same old" Giles removes his glasses and leans with his arm against the cupboard, enjoying the sound of the elder Slayer's voice again after so many months, he just hoped things would get better for all of them.  
  
"Hardly" Cordelia scoffs "Okay, I lied, a whole lot is new" Xander says as Buffy looks between the two of them "Well, that's good, isn't it? New is good" Giles shakes himself out of his reverie and puts his glasses back on.  
  
Giles lifts up the serving tray and takes it into the living room "Here we are then" he sets the tray on the coffee table "Cheer us up" He sits down in his chair and takes the teapot.  
  
Buffy and Xander each take a cookie from the tray "So were you, like, living in a box, or what?" Cordelia asks as Buffy looks at her cookie self consciously "Well, it's a long story".  
  
"So skip the heartwarming stuff about kindly old people and saving the farm and get right to the dirt" Xander laughs as Giles pours several cups of tea "Perhaps Buffy could use a little time to adjust before we grill her on her summer activities "What he said" Buffy agrees.  
  
"Fair enough. In fact, you can leave the slaying to us while you settle in. We got you covered," Xander tells the Slayer holding up his large cross, "I noticed. You guys seem down with the slayage, all tricked out with your walkies and everything," Buffy grins as Cordy rolls her eyes "Yeah, but the outfits suck. This whole Rambo thing is so over. I'm thinking more sporty, like Hilfiger maybe,".  
  
"Still, we were getting good. We dusted nine out of ten," Oz looks at his girlfriends and whispers "Six out of ten," Willow pouts as she looks at Buffy "Six out of ten,".  
  
"Whatever, we were kicking a little undead booty," Xander grins as Buffy looks at them all confused "Why isn't Nikki taking care of the Slaying?" the others all look at each other until Cordelia talks without thinking "Well she's still like PTSD after what happened you with..."  
  
Giles cleared his throat and Cordelia looked up like she suddenly realized what she was saying. Buffy looked at everyone in the room and noticed they all looked uneasy like they were hiding something "What?".  
  
"It's just she's been a little more.." Willow tries to find the right words "sociopathic" Cordelia offers as the other look at her but don't try to argue the label "What's wrong with her?" Buffy asks already noticing her sisters attitude change at home, Nikki already had a dark outlook on life but this was different.  
  
Giles put his teacup down and looked at the Slayer "I think it's something she will tell you about when she's ready, we shouldn't push her" 

* * *

 

Climbing back through my window I frowned when I didn't hear any music coming from my stereo until I noticed my mom stood in my room tapping her foot looking furious as Buffy stood next to her looking very sheepish.

  
"Well, young lady?" Mom asked giving me a chance to explain myself, throwing my bag on my bed I sighed "You know the score, I snuck out, you discipline me. Let's just get on with it" I told her as she looked at me shocked.  
  
"I do not understand what is going on with you young lady but if your sister hadn't come in here to talk to you, I wouldn't have even known you were gone," My eyes shot to Buffy who looked at me like a deer in the headlights.  
  
"You narked on me?" I growled at my sister who looked lost for words, I felt a wave of anger drown me as I looked over my 'perfect' sister "All the times you snuck out and I didn't say shit to mom about it!" Buffy didn't say a thing she just looked at me guiltily.  
  
Mom sighed as Buffy took a step closer to me "What happened to you?" she asked quietly as I looked at her confused "Giles and the others said something happened to you" my body felt cold as my Mom lifted her head up slowly to look at me.  
  
"What are you talking about?" She asked Buffy whose eyes never left mine "Has someone hurt you?" Mom questioned looking at me questioningly "talk to me baby" she whispered softly her angry face and tone missing.  
  
I started to breathe a little faster knowing a panic attack wouldn't be far behind if I thought about it too much "I can't" I whispered with no emotion "Nikki.." Buffy started as they both looked at me sadly "What happened?".  
  
"Nothing!" I snarled trying to keep my power in control "Nik..." Buffy said as she tried to hold my hand "get out" I mumbled moving away but they didn't listen "GET OUT!" I screamed loudly making the two of them jump.  
  
"We're not going anywhere," Mom told me but I just wanted to be alone "Yes, you are" I whispered lifting my hand up and pushing them both out of my bedroom with my telekinesis before the door slams shut and locks itself.  
  
"Nikki!" I heard my mom bang on the door a few times before it goes quiet, getting under the covers of my bed I curled up and let out my tears and anger as my mind replayed that night in my head over and over.  
  


* * *

  
Walking into the library during a free period I let out a loud yawn, I had nightmares all night, and I woke up extra early so I could avoid having to deal with my mom and Buffy asking me questions.  
  
Seeing the empty library I put my bag on the table and lay my head on it hoping to get a few minutes rest before having to go back to class or having to solve some kind of mysterious death, hell on the Hellmouth.  
  
Angelus slid the dagger under my top as my heart started to pound, he leaned in closer to my face "Princess there's more than one way to break a woman" lifting the knife up he tore through my shirt and I suddenly got the message.  
  
"Don't you dare touch me" I shouted but my voice wobbled and Angelus smirked "I'm going to do a lot more than touch you beautiful" he promised as he climbed on top of me.  
  
Feeling a heavy hand on my shoulder I shot up with a roar putting my hands up ready to fight, only to see my friends looking back at me in pity as Xander has his hands up in defense "Don't do that!" I told him roughly as he nods looking guilty.  
  
"Nightmare?" He questions putting his hands down slowly as I pulled myself back together "more like flashback" I told him trying to smile before I smelt something bad, looking at the table I noticed a rotten-looking cat in a cage close to where my head had been laid.  
  
"What the hell is that?" I groaned as the others began to do their own things except for Oz who is inspecting it closely, apparently not bothered by its stench "It looks dead. It smells dead" Xander nods at Oz in agreement "Yet it's movin' around. That's interesting".  
  
I glare at the two of them "And yet, you put it next to my head. Interesting," I sarcastically retort "Nice pet, Giles. Don't you like anything regular? Golf, USA Today, or anything?" Cordelia scoffs as she sits opposite Willow to help with the research.  
  
Giles comes down from the stacks "I'm trying to find out how and why it rose from the grave. It's not as if I'm going to take it home and offer it a saucer of warm milk,".  
  
He looks at my frazzled state "are you okay?" I sit back down in the chair next to the cat "peachy keen" I mumbled as Oz looks up "Well, I like it. I think you should call it Patches".  
  
I frowned at him kicking my feet up on the table "What about Dust?" the guys all look at me confused until I let out a morbid laugh "because it bit it?" The boys are the only ones to find my joke funny.  
  
"What about Buffy's welcome home dinner tonight? I had told her mom we'd help out. Bring stuff" my eyes open in shock I had no idea about any 'welcome home' dinner "I'm the dip," Cordelia says aloud as everyone looks at her but she doesn't notice and continues reading.  
  
"We should figure out what kinda deal this is. I mean, is it a-a gathering, a shindig or a hootenanny?" Oz question as I look at him confused "What's the difference?" I question still peeved about being left out on the details.  
  
"Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig" he nods to Cordelia "dip" Cordelia smiles "less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; and hootenanny, well, it's chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny" I smile at Oz's descriptions.  
  
"Well, I hate brie," Xander tells us as Cordy nods "I know. It smells like Giles's cat" Giles sighs frustrated "It's not my--" I let out a laugh cutting him off "It's in your library G" Giles looks at me seriously "It came from your house".  
  
I go silent at that piece of information "what'll we talk about at a gathering, anyway? 'So, Buffy, did you meet any nice pimps on your travels? And oh, by the by, thanks for ruining our lives for the past three months'." Xander grumbles as Willow frowns at him "Xander...".  
  
"You know what I mean. She doesn't want to talk about it, we don't want to talk about it, so why don't we just shut up and dance?" Xander explains to us as Willow shrugs in agreement "Well, Buffy said she did want to loosen up, you know, have some kid time,".  
  
She looks to Oz "Aren't you guys rehearsing tonight? Why don't you play at the party?" Oz nods looking at her in understanding "Yeah, I think I could supply some Dingo action,".  
  
"Uh, I-I'm not sure that, a, a, um... shindig..." Giles says looking at Oz who corrects Giles' terminology "Hootenanny," Giles just nods adjusting his glasses "H-hootenanny i-i-is really the order of the day. Uh, uh, it should... maybe something a little more intimate. I-I-I mean Buffy has just got home. I'm, I'm sure she's still feeling a little disoriented,".  
  
"All the more reason to make things more lively" I add as I stop rocking on the chair, I did not want to have to sit and have a stupid dinner with Buffy and my mom "and a big party says, 'Welcome, Buffy'," I exclaim tapping Giles on the back as he turns to me suspiciously.  
  
"Okay, so one vote from the Old Guy for a Smelly Cheese Night, and how many votes for actual fun, huh?" Xander calls out to everyone but Giles raises their hand and smiles.  
  
"Alright, alright. Have it your way. I'm just glad to have her home" Giles says giving up as I grin getting up from the table "What are you doing?" Giles asks as I walk into his office "Nothing" I sing-song picking up his phone.  
  
I bring the phone up to my ear and played with the curly cord waiting for the call to be picked up "Big party at the Summers house, BYOB! Be there and tell all your friends".  
  


* * *

  
After finishing my makeup I looked at my outfit for the party my mom was unknowingly about to throw, walking out my door I telekinetically locked it not wanting anyone to use it as the designated make-out area.  
  
Buffy walked out of her room in a bright pink dress looking very much like the good little daughter in contrast to my almost all black outfit "Nice dress" I tell her as she crosses her arms looking uneasy.  
  
"Thanks" She mumbles looking at clothes confused "You going to a party?" I smirked at her as I heard the doorbell ring "Something like that" We both walked downstairs as the bell rang again.  
  
Buffy opened the door and an older lady stood on the other side, not what I was expecting at all "Hey, there you are!" she says as she walks into my house like she owned it "Not thinking about any more flights of fancy, I hope".  
  
I grin as Buffy looks like she can't believe her comments, and just closes the door "Nikki, this is Pat. Pat this is Nikki" I stop laughing once Pat gives me a once over "So you're Nikki, I see what Joyce means".  
  
I look at her confused wondering if I should be offended by her obvious judgment "Joyce said there was room for one more, so I said forget facial night and let's party!" she smiles happily, way too happy "I bet you like empanadas" Pat holds out the container to Buffy, who takes it and gives her a fake smile.  
  
"Do you want to see my mom?" Buffy asks as Pat smiles again "Please" crossing my arms I growl at the top of my voice "MOM!" giving Pat a fake smile as she looks at me in shock.  
  
"Oh, Pat! Good. Girls, I hope you don't mind" Mom says as the two women embrace "did we have a choice?" I mutter getting a dirty look from my mom as the two women fawn over each other "Hi! You look great!".  
  
The doorbell rings again and Buffy turns around to answer it, It's Devon with the band "Hey, Nikki So where do you want the band to set up?" He walks into the living room and looks around for a good spot "Oh over here!" I show him as Buffy pulls on my arm "Wh-the band?"  
  
I smile at the two girls following Devon in carrying parts of the drum set before giving Buffy a look "This band, god are you blind" Buffy lets go of my arm as I show Devon where to set his stuff up in the corner of our living room.  
  
The doorbell rings again and I turn to Buffy who is stood watching me with her arms crossed "Well?" I asked as she sighs and walks off to answer the door "This party is gonna be great Nikki" Devon grins as I shrug "I know".  
  


* * *

  
Lots of people have turned up, and the party is in full swing, Buffy wondered how Nikki had pulled this off without their mother raising hell but she thinks it has something to do with her mom and Pat downing Schnapps in the kitchen.  
  
Dingoes Ate My Baby are set up in the corner of the living room and are playing "Never Mind." Half of Sunnydale High must be in attendance all of whom had been treating her sister like she was a queen.  
  
She throws one party and they all fall in love with her, Buffy had to admit that she was a little jealous as she looked around the place is so densely packed with people they almost can't get past each other without almost sticking together.  
  
Buffy glances around at all the people, not sure who half of them are, trying to find Willow until she spots her watching Oz and nodding to the song he was playing "Hey!" Buffy greets as Willow smiles at her "Hey!" she replies listens to the band.  
  
"This is large!" Buffy says after a silence for the two of them "You like? It was supposed to be a few of us but Nikki kinda invited everyone" Willow laughed seeming like she didn't mind her sisters total takeover of a party that should have been Buffy's.  
  
"Yeah. It's great" Buffy agreed somewhat as she looks back at the band "I-I was just sort of hoping it would be... us" She admitted quietly "Sorry. What?" Willow says as she shows that it's too loud to hear.  
  
"This is amazing, but I was sort of hoping we could just hang together, the gang" Buffy shouts but Willow points to the band and makes like she totally can't hear Buffy, she turns her attention back to Oz and smiles at him.  
  
Buffy senses that Willow is more into watching Oz play with the band than anything else at the moment and leaves her alone. Walking away she notices her sister making out with a good-looking guy with curly hair.  
  
Seeing Cordelia listening to the music Buffy walks up to her "Whose that?" she asks pointing over to her sister who was now nodding to music as the guy is stood behind her with his arm wrapped around her waist.  
  
Cordelia follows Buffy's line of view "Nikki's boyfriend, duh" she tells Buffy simply as the blonde Slayer looks at her in shock, her sister had a boyfriend and she didn't know. They used to tell each other everything, what was happening to her sister?  
  
"What?" Buffy says dumbly as Cordelia rolls her eyes "her boyfriend, the boy that was her friend but now are dating" Buffy felt out of place suddenly "When did that happen?" Cordelia stopped listening to music and turning to Buffy looking at her like she was stupid "In the summer, he's been chasing her for ages".  
  
Buffy's eyes moved over to her sister who was looking back at her whilst her boyfriend held onto her tightly, she was happy that Nikki had found someone but the pit of jealousy in her stomach only increased.  
  
"Yeah she's totally protective of him and he's the same," Cordy explained "He's the hottest guy in our year but no one tries anything in fear Nikki will destroy them," Cordy laughed fondly.  
  
Buffy just nodded watching as Cordelia walked off wondering when her sister and her frienemy got on such good terms that Cordelia didn't have any snide remarks or negative things to say, she even looked happy to be friends with Nikki.  
  
Looking back over to Willow, Buffy changes her mind, deciding that she wants to talk to her now. She touches Willow on the arm and indicates they should go someplace to talk, Willow, lets Buffy lead her away through the crowd.  
  
Buffy finds a relatively quiet spot in the dining room where they can talk "Is everything okay?" Buffy asks as Willow looks at her "You... You seem to be avoiding me, i-in the one-on-one sense".  
  
Willow looks surprised "What? This isn't avoiding. See? Here you are, here I am," Buffy looks at her best friend still a little unconvinced "So we're cool?" Willow nods her head fervently "Way! That's why, with the party, 'cause we're all glad you're back,".  
  
Willow isn't being very convincing, but Buffy decides to accept it for now "Okay" Willow smiles "Okay. Good" She goes back to watch the band again but Buffy isn't at all positive that everything's good.  
  
Buffy walks back into the crowd and notices her sister with the band now as they start to play some riff before Nikki grabs onto the microphone and holds on to it tightly as she begins to sing.  
  
 _'Cause baby now we got bad blood/ You know it used to be mad love/ So take a look at what you've done/ 'Cause baby now we got bad blood_  
  
The crowd of teens goes wild for her sister as she sings with Oz and his band but Nikki's eyes were trained on Buffy who walks closer to the crowd and sees Xander making out with Cordelia. She tries to walk by without being noticed, but Xander sees her.   
  
 _Now we got problems/ And I don't think we can solve them/ You made a really deep cut/ And baby now we got bad blood_  
  
Cordelia doesn't stop kissing him on the face and neck while he talks to Buffy "Hey, Buff, uh... what are you doing?" Buffy shrugs trying not to look out of place "was just taking a break from all this wacky fun".  
  
D _id you have to do this?/ I was thinking that you could be trusted/ Did you have to ruin what was shining now it's all rusted/ Did you have to hit me where I'm weak baby I couldn't breathe/ I rubbed it in so deep/ Salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me/ Oh, it's so sad to think about the good times/ You and I_  
  
"Some kind of party, huh? I guess a lot of people are glad to have you back" Xander tells her as she crosses her arms watching her sister belt out the song, she didn't even know her sister sang but she knew this song had meaning for Nikki, what was it though?.  
  
 _'Cause baby now we got bad blood/ You know it used to be mad love/ So take a look at what you've done/ 'Cause baby now we got bad blood_  
  
"It seems like people I didn't even know missed me" Buffy mumbled as she looked into the crowd shocked to see her mom and Pat watching Nikki singing from the doorway, they clapped and danced among themselves looking like they were having a blast.  
  
 _Now we got problems/ And I don't think we can solve them/ You made a really deep cut/ And baby now we got bad blood_  
  
"Did Giles say he was going to be late?" Buffy asked trying not to look in Xander's direction as Cordelia still ignored her presence in favor of kissing Xander's neck "Uh, he was Library Man last time I saw him. But he'll be here. He wants to celebrate your homecoming. We all do. I mean, it's great to have the Buffster back,"  
  
 _Did you think we'd be fine? / Still got scars on my back from your knife / So don't think it's in the past / These kind of wounds they last and they last / Now did you think it all through?/ All these things will catch up to you / And time can heal but this won't / So if you come in my way, just don't / Oh, it's so sad to think about the good times / You and I_    
  
Buffy smiles at her friends' words but she was listening to the words her sister sang so deeply as Xander tries to get Cordelia's attention "Isn't it?" Cordelia looks at Buffy with an unconvincing smile "Totally!" She nods before looking at Xander coyly "Except you were kinda turning me on with that whole Boy Slayer look".  
  
 _'Cause baby now we got bad blood / You know it used to be mad love / So take a look at what you've done / 'Cause baby now we got bad blood_  
  
"Was I now?" Xander grins like a horny schoolboy which he was "You bet, Nighthawk" They smile and giggle at each other, and resume their kissing. Buffy grimaces definitely feels like the odd person out.  
  
 _Now we got problems / And I don't think we can solve them / You made a really deep cut / And baby now we got bad blood_  
  
"Well, I'll just be, uh..." Buffy gives up when neither of them looks at her "oh, yeah" she turns and leaves them as looks around before her gaze stops on Nikki's boyfriend, Buffy bit her lip, wondering if she should go introduce herself and interrogate him.  
  
 _Band-aids don't fix bullet holes / You say sorry just for show / You live like that, you live with ghosts / Band-aids don't fix bullet holes / You say sorry just for show / You live like that, you live with ghosts / Hm, if you love like that blood runs bad_  
  
Looking back to Nikki who was giving her a small glare and finishes her song, Buffy surmised the glare was for her to back off as she watched as Nikki walks back over to her boyfriend with a grin as he pulls her in for a kiss.  
  
Walking over to the snack table she gathers up empty cups, she needed something to keep her busy. A guy reaches in front of her and grabs a handful of party mix, leans his head back and dumps it into his mouth as most of it spills to the sides and onto the floor.  
  
Buffy just gives a shrug her mom will clean up later, grabbing a few more cups and turns to go throw them out, she passes two guys talking and overhears their conversation "Hey, what's the deal with this party, anyway?".  
  
"This party? Heard it was for some chick that just got out of rehab" the guys says as he takes a drag from his joint, Buffy stares at them, less than happy about that rumor, but she ignores them and continues on toward the kitchen.  
  
"Now, how you holding up, Joyce, hm? Really," Buffy stops when she hears Pat ask that question "Really? I'm... I don't know. While Buffy was gone, I tried to bond with Nikki but she just pushed me away, she's just so angry at everyone,".  
  
Hearing her mom sigh sadly hurt Buffy, but she also felt angry at her sister for making their mom so upset "Nikki couldn't care less about finding Buffy or helping her but I just knew that if I could put my arms around Buffy and tell her how much we loved her, everything would be okay".  
  
Buffy smiled at her moms' words suddenly feeling better "But?" Pat pressed making Buffy frown "Having Buffy home, I-I thought it was gonna make it all better, but in some ways, it's almost worse" Buffy takes her mom's words hard, and runs up the stairs to her room.  
  


* * *

  
A trauma team is trying to revive a burn victim. A nurse holds a pair of defibrillation pads ready while the doctor pumps his chest and another nurse bags him "Breathe. Breathe"  
  
The man is flat-lining, The heart monitor beeps insistently while the cursor just moves flatly across the screen "Alright, look. These burns are too extensive. It's 7:43. Let's call it".  
  
He walks off as the one nurse puts away the bag while the other put away the defib pads. The man on the bed has severe second- and third-degree burns all along the right side of his face and body.   
  
His eyes suddenly pop open as he sits up on the bed, leaving a puddle of blood on the pillow "Oh, my God!" The nurse screams as the man starts violently hitting people out of his way as he goes.

* * *

 

Feeling a tap on my shoulder I turn to see Willow looking confused "Have you seen Buffy?" I look at the crowd but frown when I don't see my sister, in fact, I hadn't seen her since I finished singing.

  
"Come on," I tell Willow as we make our way upstairs where we find Buffy stuffing her things back into her bag "You're leaving again?" Buffy gives me a quick glance and goes back to packing.  
  
"What, you just stopped by for your lint brush and now you're ready to go?" Willow cries out as I glare at my sister "It's not like anyone will mind," I let out a laugh at my sisters' childish ways.  
  
"Oh, no. Have a great time, don't forget to  _not_  write," I hiss at her with heavy sarcasm as she turns to face me sobbing "Why are you attacking me? I'm trying,".  
  
"Wow, and it looks so much like giving up!" I tut as she continues to cry "I'm just trying to make things easier," I shake my head at her words as Willow frowns "For who?".  
  
"You guys were doing just fine without me, teaming up for slaying and getting yourself a boyfriend," Buffy bawled as she put more into her bag "We were doing the best we could! It's not like we had a lot of choice in the matter," Willow scoffs as I look at my sister annoyed.  
  
"Sorry that I had to leave, but you don't know what I was going through" Feeling my stomach tighten I remembered my mom telling me Buffy was going through a 'rough patch'  
  
Grabbing Willow's arm I nodded for her to leave, turning back to my sister I walked into her room silently "What you went through? What about what we went through?" I whispered dangerously.  
  
"You wouldn't understand," Buffy tried again as I let out a little laugh "I wouldn't understand? What's wrong  _B_? You feeling left out?" I taunted as she looked at me sadly "That is nothing compared to what I.. we've been through," I hissed as she flinched.  
  
"This isn't easy, Buffy! I know you're going through stuff, but... so am I," I told her as she sighed "I know that you were worried about me, but--" I interrupted her with a snarl "Not everything is about you!".  
  


* * *

  
Giles speeds along to the Summers' house as best he can in his decrepit car. He looks left and right in anger and fear. "Unbelievable" he tuts as he begins to mocks Joyce "'Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It raises the dead!'  _Americans"._  
  
He looks ahead in time to see that he's about to hit someone "Jesus!" He shouts as he slams on the brakes and begins to skid. He hits the man, who falls onto the hood of the car, bounces off of the windshield and slides off as the car comes to a stop.   
  
The man rolls a few times on the pavement before coming to rest, Giles stares in shock at the man lying in the road "My God" He quickly gets out of his car and looks at the man's form lay on the ground "Are you alright?".  
  
After receiving no answer he rushes over to the man and feels for a pulse on his neck "Are you hurt?" the man rolls over, and Giles sees that he's in an advanced state of decay.  
  
"Good God" Giles shouts as he jumps up in shock, the zombie grabs Giles by the coat and lifts him up as it gets to its feet as other zombies approach from an alley. The zombie has Giles bent back on the hood of his car.   
  
Giles gets his foot underneath him and pushes kicks him off. He rolls off of the hood and scrambles back into the car, locking the door. The zombies start pounding on the car. Giles reaches for the ignition and discovers the keys missing.   
  
He searches his pockets. Nothing. he looks out onto the street, and there they are "Oh, good show, Giles" He says sarcastically mocking himself as the Zombies continue to try to get inside of his car.  
  
He thinks for a moment what to do, then reaches underneath the dash and pulls out some wires,  he quickly he unravels and strips the appropriate ones as a zombie punches through the window and reaches in for him.   
  
Giles touches the wires together. They spark, and the engine starts up "Like riding a bloody bicycle!" He puts the car in gear and drives off, slowly leaving the zombies behind. **  
**

* * *

"You have no idea how much I missed you. Everyone. I wanted to call every day," Buffy cries but I feel no remorse for my sister "That doesn't matter, Buffy. It doesn't make it okay that you didn't,".

  
Mom walks into the room with Willow and sees the bag on Buffy's bed "What is this? Is this some sort of a joke?" Mom questions and I cross my arms as Buffy scrambles for words "Mom, please, could you, could you just--"  
  
Mom interrupts "No, I can't just! Buffy, what is this?" she shouts louder motioning to Buffy's clothes in the bag "She was running away again" I tell her as Buffy glares at me "No, I wasn't" she pauses looking very confused "I'm not sure".  
  
"Well, you better get sure and explain yourself right away! If you think you can just-just take off any time you feel like it--" Mom begins but Buffy just puts her hands up looking upset "Stop it! Please! I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing,".  
  
Buffy rushes from her room and heads downstairs Mom, Willow and I follow right on her heels. She stops at the front door and turns into the living room where she finds Xander and Cordelia locked in a passionate embrace, blocking her way out.  
  
"Don't you leave this house, young lady!" Mom screams out but Buffy doesn't stop her determined walk "You know what? That's it" She runs up behind Buffy, grabs her arm and turns her around to face her "You and I are going to have a talk".  
  
The band stops playing and most of the people stop talking, suddenly the level of noise in the room is reduced to just a few voices. Buffy looks around at everyone staring at them "Mom, please--".  
  
Beck walked over and put his arm around my neck as I turned to him "Maybe you should go home and I call you later, this will get messy" Beck looks at me as I nod at him knowing he'd want to stay with me.  
  
Beck taps on my mom's shoulder in comfort as he walks past her "Thank you for coming Beckett" she thanks but her eyes never leave Buffy as some other party goers follow Beck out the front door noticing the change in atmosphere.  
  
Xander and Cordelia come into the living room as Buffy looks around more embarrassed "Please mom, not here..." but mom just interrupts her looking mad "You know what? I don't care. I don't care what your friends think of me, or you for that matter, because you put me through the wringer, Buffy," Mom inhales deeply.  
  
"I mean it" she exhales and inhales some more "and I've had schnapps" she exhales "me too!" I shout as mom gives me a look before turning back to Buffy "Do you have any idea what it's been like?".  
  
"Mom, this isn't the time--" Buffy starts as Willow looks around worried, Oz comes up next to her as mom interrupts again "You can't imagine months of not knowing. Not knowing whether you're lying dead in a ditch somewhere or, I don't know, living it up--"  
  
Buffy interrupts in turn "But you told me! You're the one who said I should go. You said if I leave this house, don't come back. You found out who I really was, and you couldn't deal. Don't you remember?".  
  
People are thinking this is a drag and start to leave making me pout "Buffy, you didn't give me time. You just dumped this thing on me and you expected me to get it. Well, guess what? Mom's not perfect, okay? I handled it badly. But that doesn't give you the right to punish me by running away,".  
  
"Punish you? I didn't do this to punish you!" Buffy scoffs as I step forward "Well, you did. You should've seen what you put her through," I shouted at my sister who let out a cry "Great. Thanks. Anybody else want to weigh in here?" she turns and sees Jonathon "How about you by the dip?".  
  
Jonathon freezes in the middle of bringing a chip laden with dip to his mouth and looks around nervously at everyone suddenly staring at him "No, thanks. I'm good" Xander steps up beside me "You know, maybe you don't want to hear it, Buffy, but taking off like you did was incredibly selfish and stupid".  
  
"Okay! Okay. I screwed up. I know this. But you have no idea! You have, you have no idea what happened to me or what I was feeling!" Buffy shouts at us looking hysterical "Did you even try talking to anybody?" Xander questions like the rest of us.  
  
"There was nothing that anybody could do. Okay? I just had to deal with this on my own," Buffy tells him as he scoffs "Yeah, and you see how well that one worked out. You can't just bury stuff, Buffy. It'll come right back up to get you,".  
  
"As if I even could've gone to you, Xander. You made your feelings about Angel and I perfectly clear," Buffy hisses as Xander looks down "Look. I'm sorry that your honey was a demon, but most girls don't hop a Greyhound over boy troubles," I spit out at my twin.  
  
Cordelia intercedes stepping out in front of us "Timeout. Put yourself in Buffy's shoes for just a minute. Okay? I'm Buffy, a freak of nature, right? Naturally, I pick a freak for a boyfriend, and then he turns into Mr. Killing Spree, which is pretty much my fault--"   
  
Buffy interrupts with a shriek "Cordy! Get outta my shoes!" Cordy looks at Buffy hurt "I'm just trying to help, Buffy" Willow cuts in behind us "Buffy, you never--" Buffy cries out near the breaking point "Willow, please. I can't take this from you, too".  
  
"Let her finish! You at least owe her that," I yell at my sister who looks over to me angrily "God, Nikki! Do you think you could at least stick to be a bitch to me on your own behalf?".  
  
" _Fine_! You stop acting like a child, I'll stop being a bitch you!" I hiss as Buffy steps up to me "Oh, you wanna talk about being a child?" I just smirk at my sister willing to hash this out right now.  
  
"Okay. I'm gonna step in now" Oz says as he gets between us as he obviously sees the Slayer fight coming "being Referee Guy" I stare in my sister's eyes as she looks right back at me.  
  
"No, let them go, Oz. Talking about it isn't helping. We might as well try some violence" A zombie suddenly smashes through the living room window and comes in as others follow right behind.  
  
"I was being sarcastic!" Willow cried out as a zombie grabs Xander, and they start to wrestle. Another one grabs a Stoner's head and twists it violently, breaking his neck.   
  
Xander gets the upper hand on the slow-moving zombie and throws him back out of the window, Willow and Oz scramble to help out, The remaining party guests all try to drive the zombies out, but aren't very organized about it.   
  
Xander breaks away from the crowd "Xander, kitchen!" Buffy calls out "I got your back!" Xander shouts back as she tosses him an andiron from the fireplace, and they run into the kitchen with Cordelia close behind.   
  
A zombie jumps on me and I launch myself into a hopping side kick to his gut, sidestepping a punch I swing under his arm with an uppercut to his jaw, but he isn't fazed.   
  
He swings at me with both arms, knocking me aside, I see mom watching me fight, cringing at every blow. I punch the zombie twice in the face and then duck past him as he lunges at me with his arm trying to grab me.   
  
He turns around and tries to make a grab for me, but mom comes up behind him with a vase and smashes it over his head. I see the others are having limited success keeping the zombies out of the house as I leg sweep the zombie and knocks him down "Are these vampires?" mom questions frightened.  
  
"Uh, no," I tell her breathing heavily as the zombie gets back up "Nikki, heads up!" I turn as she tosses me a piece of the broken window frame I catch it out of the air and stab the zombie with it but he just looks up at me as though I'd just pinched him "Okay stabbing, no go" I say as the zombie starts to get back to his feet.  
  
Mom hits the zombie repeatedly over the head with a broken piece of wood as Jonathon is holding a guitar, ready to smash it over the zombie "We got to get 'em back outside!" I shout wondering how Buffy was getting on in the kitchen.  
  
"On three!" mom calls out as Devon grabs the zombie by the back, Oz and mom each grabs an arm "One... Two... Three!" together they drag him to the front door where I wait to slam it shut.  
  
The three of them throw the ghoul out and barricade themselves against the door after I slam it shut, the zombie slams himself against it, trying to get back in "Okay! We're gonna have to barricade this door!" I say to them as they nod looking terrified.  
  
"We need some help out here!" I call out toward the kitchen as Buffy rushes into the living room to help "Grab that table!" Oz shouts to Buffy who runs for the table.  
  
Buffy drags the table back and positions it against the door, she leans into it while Devon goes off to get another one, Xander shows up to help too when suddenly the zombie punches through the door and makes a grab for Oz's shoulder.  
  
"Upstairs!" Buffy shouts out as she runs up the stairs and into mom's room as Willow, Xander, mom and I follow her. At the top of the stairs, mom sees Pat lying unconscious on the floor further down the hall "Oh, Pat!".  
  
She rushes over to Pat as Willow and Buffy run over to help also "Oh, God..." mom gasps as Pat wakes, Willow and mom help her up, each getting under one arm "Careful!" Buffy instructs as Pat groans.  
  
"Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry" As we stand by the stairs to defend against any Zombies "I got you. Okay" mom whispers to Pat who looks worse for wear "How much Schnapps did you give her?" I joke as mom helps Pat along "Not funny, Nicola!".  
  
Mom and Willow have to drag Pat the rest of the way in and lie her down on a large padded wicker chair and footrest while Buffy and I try to get the door closed to keep a zombie out.   
  
Willow feels for a pulse on Pat's neck "She's--" mom gasps looking at Pat sadly "Oh, God! Pat! She's dead!" The zombie gives the door a good bump, knocking me back and into the far wall.  
  
Getting up on all fours I see Buffy manages to shove the zombie back a bit as Willow, Xander and Mom run to help, all four of them are pushing against the door to get it closed.  
  
"What do we do if they get in?" Mom questions "I kind of think we die" Xander answers as the zombie at the door overpowers Buffy and the others, pushing the door in violently.   
  
Joyce and Xander fall to the floor as the zombie comes in and backhand punches Buffy, sending her into the wall. Xander tries to grab the zombie from behind, but it throws a backhand punch and hits Xander in the jaw.   
  
Xander goes flying onto the bed and rolls off of the far side onto the floor, running over to the Zombie I start to struggle with it as I hear my mom's relieved voice behind me "Oh, God! We thought you were--".  
  
Turning my head, I see my mom try to hug Pat "No mom!" I shout as Pat grabs her outstretched arms and pushes her hard onto the bed, mom rolls off next to Xander as Pat bends down to pick up the mask and holds it to her face as she stands back up.   
  
Feeling myself being thrown through the air I groan as I look up and notice the eyes of the mask suddenly glow a very bright red, and the mask integrates itself into Pat's face.   
  
The zombie immediately stops fighting and falls to his knees, screaming and cowering before Pat "Generally speaking, when scary things get scared, not good" Xander informs my mom who just nods.  
  
I see Willow looking at the mask transfixed by its stare "I live, you die" Buffy tries to get between them but Pat turns to her, and its eyes flash, mesmerizing Buffy.  
  
It backhand punches her and sends her flying into the closet door and she crumples to the ground, she raises herself up on her hands and sees Willow back away from Pat fearfully "Willow, don't look!" Buffy shouts from the floor.  
  
Pat's eyes flash again at Willow and she freezes, Pat strides over to her and grabs her by the jaw and the back of her head, I lunge at Pat and grabs her diving out of the bedroom window, thinking that diving through windows was becoming my thing.  
  
The two of us fall onto the roof and roll down and off, we hit the railing of the back porch and break it, fall over some bushes and roll into the backyard. Getting to my feet quickly I notice Pat doing the same, quickly moving away I put some distance between myself and the Demon Pat, shading my eyes as I go.  
  
"Not looking" I mumble trying to keep away from as she tracks after me "Not looking!" I call again evading her arms. Pat tackles me to the ground and turns me over, I immediately cover my eyes with my arm.  
  
I snap kick Pat off of me and she flies across the yard, getting to my hands and knees I scramble over to the shovel, turning around with the shovel raised Pat is stood behind me and flashes her eyes at me again, this time making me freeze.   
  
Feeling everything slow down I tried to move but nothing was happening "Nikki!" shaking my head Oz's voice brings me out of my trance as Pat flash freezes Oz, I back up and raise the shovel.  
  
"Hey, Pat!" I shout as she snaps her head around to look at me again as I jam the shovel into the demon's eyes, embedding it in its head. Pat grabs the shovel handle and tries to pull it out, but she can't "Made you look" I punned with a grin.  
  
Suddenly in a flash of white light Pat disappears taking the mask with her, looking over at Oz he shrugged "never mind" walking back into the house with Oz I'm immediately talked by my mom "Honey!".  
  
AS she lets go everyone slowly walks into the now chaotic looking living room "everyone okay?" I ask as they all pretty much nod "So, is this a typical day at the office?" mom questions looking at Buffy and me.  
  
"No. This was nothing" Buffy tells her as we all turn to each other awkwardly "Nice moves" Xander compliments Buffy who smiles "You too" Willow smiles, and goes to hug Buffy, they hold each other close for a long time.   
  
Giles looks on from the other side of the room and breathes deeply looking relieved as everyone compliments each other, Buffy looks over at me and her smile falters "Good job". I just look at my sister emotionless and walk past her not ready to forgive her so easily "Whatever". **  
**

* * *

Principal Snyder is in his office he's getting some files from his cabinet when there is a knock on his door "come in" he says monotonously, It opens and Giles comes in. 

  
Snyder glances over to see who it is and goes to his desk "Do we have an appointment?" He questions as Giles shakes his head "I'd like to have a word with you" Snyder drops the files on his desk and turns to face Giles.  
  
"If that word is Buffy, then I have two words for you: 'good' and 'riddance'. Now, if you don't mind, I have an appointment with the Mayor," Snyder tells the librarian "You can't keep her out of this school,".  
  
Snyder pulls on his jacket "I think you'll find I can," Giles glares at the snide man "You had no grounds for expelling her," Snyder smirks at Giles loving this "I have grounds, I have precedent and a tingly kind of feeling,".  
  
"Buffy Summers is a minor and is entitled to a public education. Your personal dislike of the girl does not legally entitle you to--" Snyder interrupts quickly "Why don't you take it up with the city council?".  
  
He grabs the files and his briefcase and heads for the door "I thought I'd start with the State Supreme Court," Snyder stops and faces him "You're powerful in local circles, but I believe I can make life very difficult for you, professionally speaking," Giles looks at Snyder confidently "And Buffy will be allowed back in,".  
  
"Sorry. I'm not convinced" Snyder says as he tries to go again but Giles grabs him by the lapel and shoves him back into his filing cabinet grinning manically as Snyder at him nervously "Would you like me to convince you?".  
  



	3. Faith, Hope, & Trick

Standing at the steps of school holding hands with Beck I frown as we see the Scoobies sitting under a tree with Buffy looking all preppy and yellow “Aren't you supposed to be having lunch with them?” Beck asks nodding over to the Scoobies.

I groan loudly “why?” Beck just smiles knowingly and takes out his toothpick giving me a kiss as he lightly pushes me away “I'll see you later” he promises with a wink as he walks away to his van.

Sighing, I pull my shoulder bag closer as I walk over the grass towards my group of friends as they all look up at me “Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come” I say as Buffy looks at me confused “Then why are you here?”.

I glare down at Willow who smiles happily knowing she was blackmailing me into this, throwing my bag to the floor, I sit taking the water bottle Buffy offered me tentatively.

“Don't you guys have a meeting with Principal Snyder?” Xander asks us “We're seeing Snyde-Man tomorrow” Buffy answers as Willow starts to make an excited noise “Ooh, Scott Hope at eleven o'clock” We all turn to look and see Scott Hope looking at Buffy.

“He likes you. He wanted to ask you out last year, but you weren't ready then. But I think you're ready now, or at least in the state of pre-readiness to make conversation, or-or to do that thing with your mouth that boys like," I spit the water out I had in my mouth at Willows words as Buffy gives her a shocked look.

Willow realizes her slip-up “Oh! I didn't mean the bad thing with your mouth, I meant that little half-smile thing that you...” she stops and glares at Oz “You're supposed to stop me when I do that,".

Oz smiles shaking his head “I like when you do that” Scott has finished talking with his friends and comes toward them. As he passes, he looks over at Buffy and smiles “Hi, Buffy” Buffy smiles back coyly “Hi” Scott just continues on his way.

Willow breaks out into a huge smile “I think that went very well. Don't you think that went very well?” Cordelia nodded smiling “He didn't try to slit our throats or anything. That's progress,".

“Hey, did you do that little half-smile thing?” Willow asked with a grin as Buffy sighs “Look, I'm not trying to snare Scott Hope. I just want to get my life back, you know, do normal stuff,".

“Like date?” Willow questions Buffy “Well...” Xander chuckles out loud “Oh, you wanna date. I saw that half-smile, you little slut” Buffy punches him on the arm, and none too lightly.

Xander smiles and chuckles “Ow," he winces and holds his arm “All right, yes, date and shop and hang out and go to school and save the world from unspeakable demons. You know, I wanna do girlie stuff!” I look at my sister as she utters that last line “Ew,".

* * *

 

A black stretch-limousine pulls into the parking lot of Happy Burger and heads toward the drive-through lane, the car pulls up and stops at another fat boy fitted with a speaker and mic and the window of the limo lowers.

“Welcome to Happy Burger. May I take your order, please?” A voice asks from the speaker sounding bored “Diet soda. Medium," A man's voice orders from inside the limo “That'll be eighty-nine cents at the window, sir," the speaker replies.

Mr. Trick, a dark-skinned vampire who liked a lavish lifestyle raises the window, and the car pulls forward “Sunnydale” Trick calls out looking next to him “Town's got quaint. And the people? He called me 'sir'. Don't you just miss that?”.

When Trick receives no response he continues “I mean, admittedly, it's not a haven for the brothers, you know, strictly the Caucasian Persuasion here in the Dale. But, you know, you just gotta stand up and salute their death rate. I ran a statistical analysis, and hello darkness. It makes... D.C. look... like Mayberry, and ain't nobody saying boo about it. We could fit right in here. Have us some fun,".

Hidden in the shadows of the limousine came a growl, as an ancient vampire Kakistos sat forward “We're here for one thing” He pulls his cloven hand from Trick's knee and Trick looks at it, disgusted “Kill the Slayer, yeah. Still, big picture...”.

He lowers the window again, and looks out, he hands the boy at the window a dollar. The boy hands him back the soda, a straw and his change with a customer friendly smile “Have a nice night, sir” Trick smiles back “Right back at ya” He sits back on his seat.

“The Slayer. I'm going to rip her spine from her body, and I'm going to eat her heart and suck the marrow from her bones," Kakistos growls angrily as Trick considers that for a moment, smacking his lips “Now I'm hungry,".

Trick lunges out of the window, vamped out, the boy is shocked and tries to move away but Trick already has him by the shirt. The boy screams as Trick pulls him out of the building and part way into the limousine.

The car takes off with the boy's legs kicking outside the window, the limo screeches through the parking lot and into the street as the boys' screams seem to disappear as well as his body.

* * *

 

Looking at the library doors as they open I notice Buffy and Willow walking together, they stop by the counter giving me a smile “It's so great that you're a schoolgirl again” Willow tells Buffy with a smile “Giles say what he wanted? Do you think he's mad?”.

Looking back on the counter I see play with the bowls and jars of various dried herbs arrayed on it “No, I don't think so. I think he just needed to see you” Willow says as she glances around smiling “ Have you ever noticed, though, when he is mad, but he's too English to say anything, he makes that weird cluck-cluck sound with his tongue?”

Giles suddenly rises up from behind the counter and looks at the things he's laid out on the counter “Hi, Giles!” Buffy greets as Willow turns to face him, looking worried “ Oh, hi! Been there long?” she glares at me as I give her a grin payback for making me have lunch with Buffy.

Giles just rushes around preoccupied “Buffy, good timing” he looks around behind the counter “I could use your help. I trust you remember the demon Acathla?” Buffy smirks as she looks at Giles “Giles, contain yourself. Yes, I'm back in school, but you know how it embarrasses me when you gush so”.

“Giles looks up from his searching “Let's just skip all that and get straight to work” Buffy finishes as Giles slowly straightens up “Oh, ahhhh... Well, I, um... Well-w... O-o-of course, it's wonderful to have you back, i-i-it goes without saying” Buffy just raises her eyebrows at him and smiles “But...” he stops and notices Buffy's look “You enjoy making me say it, don't you?”.

He sets his glasses on his nose and continues looking around, Buffy plays with a bowl on the counter “Okay, Acathla, huh? What are you doing, making him some demon pizza?” She picks up a bundle of sage, sniffs it and frowns. She holds it over for Willow to sniff, who smiles.

“We need to make sure that he remains dormant and that the dimensional vortex is sealed tight. So I'm working on a binding spell” Giles informs us as Willow perks up “Oh, a spell? Can I help?”.

Giles nods at our redheaded friend “Possibly, with the research. It's very sensitive and...” Willow looks upset “Oh! Who's more sensitive than me?” she says sounding hurt “...and difficult spell. It involves creating a-a-a protective circle around... Well, I don't want to bore you with the details, but, uh, well, there's a litany th-that one has to recite in Aramaic, and it's very specific. So I need to get a few details about your experience of defeating Acathla and Angel”.

He starts ingredient hunting again as Buffy considers for a moment “Fire away” Giles nods quickly “ I've put the time at about, um” he checks his notes “6:17, around, about half an hour after Xander rescued me” he comes back to the counter as my stomach involuntary churns remembering how Xander carried me out of Angel's mansion.

“Less. More like ten minutes” Giles looks over to Buffy shocked “Oh, was the vortex already open?” Buffy nods in affirmation “Barely” Giles hums “I see. And Angel?” Buffy shrugs to herself “A big fight, Angel got the pointy end of the sword, Acathla sucked him into Hell instead of the world. That's about the it”.

Giles writes a few notes “Yes, well, that, um... should be very helpful” Buffy checks her watch “Oh, no, I have to go take an English makeup exam” she picks up her pile of books from the counter “They give you credit just for speaking it, right?” she asks looking at us as we just stay quiet “Oh...” she whines stomping away.

Willow picks up the bundle of sage and sniffs it some more “Mm, sage. I love that smell” Willow says as she puts the sage under my nose before reaching into a jar “ And marnox root. You know, a smidge of this mixed with a virgin's saliva...” I smile as she gets a look from Giles “Does something I know nothing about”.

“These forces are not something that one plays around with, Willow. What have you been conjuring?” Giles questions as Willow looks a little uneasy “Nothing... much. Well, you know, I tried this spell to cure Angel, and I guess that was a bust. But since then, you know, small stuff: floating feather, fire out of ice, which next time I won't do on the bedspread” Giles looks down and Willow looks sad “Are you mad at me?”.

Giles looks up at her “No, of course not, no. If I were, I would be making a strange clucking sound with my tongue” I belt out as laugh as Willow looks up

* * *

 

 

Dancing on my own in the Bronze I see a guy dancing very energetically and weirdly enough dancing like he was stuck in the 70's, looking over to where Willow was sitting I smiled seeing her and Oz making out.

As the girl dancing with the guy turns around she winks at me “Nice moves” I laugh noticing our dancing styles weren't that different “ditto” I smirked as I walked back over to my friends.

Standing behind Scott I noticed Buffy looking a little awkward “Don't you love this song?” Scott asks as Buffy nods quickly “Uh, yeah! Actually, I do” moving around Scott, I dropped into an armchair.

“Well, would you like to...” Scott offers as he indicates the dance floor “Dance? Um...” Buffy questions gulping as Willow smiles at her encouragingly “I don't know. I'm bad with... Well...” Willow frowns at Buffy's reluctance.

Buffy fidgets “Thank you for asking, it's just that there...” Scott nods getting the picture “Okay, you know what? I'm just gonna go stand by the dance floor. If you change your mind, you can mosey on over, and then if not, then you don't mosey. No harm, no foul, right?”

Buffy nod halfheartedly “Right” Scott walks off to find a place to wait as rolls her eyes and flops her head back, obviously kicking herself for the way she handled that.

I grimaced having to watch that “That looked painful” I commented as Buffy pouted “Come on, Buffy. I mean, the guy is charm, a-and normal, which is what you wanted to get back to” Willow said looking very disappointed.

“Plus bonus points for use of the word 'mosey'” Oz interjected in his monotone humor “Yeah you don't see many people moseying nowadays” I mumbled as Oz points at me in agreement.

“I just don't think I'm ready” Buffy shrugs as Willow sighs “What's stopping you?” before Buffy can answer Cordelia and Xander walk up “Check out Slut-O-Rama and her Disco Dave”.

I look over to where she points and see the girl I had kind of talked to earlier, although the girl's style is more contemporary, the guy is dancing way too fast for the music “What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?”.

Rolling my eyes at her I got up and walked away needing to use the bathroom, I was starting to get bored here being at the Bronze is as much fun as it used to be, back when things were... better.

* * *

 

Buffy watches as her sister walks off on her own and can't help but wonder when she was going to forgive her for leaving “I mean really” Cordelia scoffs watching the couple and Buffy begins to really wonder about them.

The couple gets close again, and the girl extends her arm, pointing at the door. The guy takes the hint and leads her out with his arm around her. Buffy watches them go, suspicious of his intentions.

She sees him say bye to his buddy and head for the door “I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine” She quickly puts down her drink and starts out after them. As she crosses the room behind the dance floor, Scott sees her coming and steps over to intercept her “Hi”.

Buffy stops short, startled “Hi. Oh” she frowns knowing what he must have thought she was coming to dance with him “no, I...” she points at the door “I-I have to...” Scott nods as he gets it “Oh. Uh, uh, sorry, my bad”.

Buffy gives him an apologetic look “No. I-it's mine. Really, it's mine, but I...” she glances back at the others “I-I-I have to go,” she tells him as she hurries out as he looks very confused, and just watches her leave.

Buffy strides out and looks around as Xander comes out right behind her followed closely by the others except for her sister who had disappeared at the wrong time “Where'd she go?” She takes a few steps down the alley to the left to check things out, the others look around also.

“I bet it's nothing. They're probably just making out” Cordelia guesses as Buffy comes back until they hear a girl call out in a complaining tone “Hey!” They also hear a loud noise, as though something was just broken.

Xander pulls a stake out of his jacket and Buffy takes it from him heading in the direction of the noise “ That's not what making out sounds like, unless I'm doing it wrong” Willow mumbles as they all follow behind Buffy.

Buffy arrives at where the noises were coming from, the girl notices her and approaches, smiling “It's okay, I got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?” Buffy is taken aback and just as she's about to answer, the vampire comes up behind the girl and grabs her by the shoulders.

She snaps her head back to headbutt him in the face and grabs onto his arm “I'm Faith” she twists the vampire around and shoves him into the section of chain link fence “I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's a new Slayer in town” Oz half whispers to Willow.

Faith knees the vampire in the gut from behind, the vamp whirls around and tries to backhand punch her, but she easily ducks it. She punches him in the gut and then again in the face.

Everyone just watches her fight in shock as Nikki walks up to them “Who's that” she asked causally not sounding worried at all, Faith does a high side kick to the vampire's jaw, grabs onto his shirt and neck and throws him to the ground. The vamp does a no-hand front roll to control his fall while Faith reaches over to Buffy for the stake and jerks it from her hand “Can I borrow that?”.

The vampire uses the momentum of his roll to get back to his feet and runs at Faith, throwing a punch as he comes. She ducks it, hooks her hand on his shoulder, turns him around and pushes him back into the fence.

She raises the stake and jams it cleanly into his chest and jerks it back out, the vampire instantly crumbles into ashes. Buffy stares in confused amazement as Faith faces her and hands her back the stake “Thanks, B. Couldn't have done it without you”.

She just continues walking past them and grabs onto Nikki's arm pulling her along like the two of them hadn't just met, Buffy turns to stare at them, unsure how to react.

* * *

 

Sitting back in the bronze the seven of us are sat around a table as Faith is relating one of her stories to us “The whole summer it was, like, the worst heat wave. So it's about a hundred and eighteen degrees and I'm sleeping without a stitch on”.

A waitress sets a tray of muffins on the table and leaves “And all of a sudden, I hear this screaming from outside. So I go tearing out, stark nude” I smirk when I noticed Xander looks down at her body, licking his lips.

“and this church bus has broke down, and there's these three vamps feasting on half the Baptists in South Boston. So I waste the vamps, and the preacher comes up, and he's hugging me like there's no tomorrow when all of a sudden, the cops pull up and they arrested us both”.

She reaches for a muffin at the same time I do as we're all entranced by her story “Wow. They should film that story and show it every Christmas” Xander mumbles looking dazed as Cordelia turns her head to him and gives him a look.

Faith tears into the muffin “God, I could eat a horse. Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?” The others all turn their heads to look at us in question.

I just smirk as Buffy stares back wide-eyed and suddenly uncomfortable “Well... Sometimes I-I crave a nonfat yogurt afterward” A look of sudden revelation washes across Cordelia's face, and she smiles “I get it”.

Faith gives her a confused look “Not the horny thing. Yuck! But the more than two Slayer thing. There was one, and then Buffy died for, like, two minutes, so then Nikki died on Halloween, so Kendra was called, and then when she died, Faith was called”.

I just stare at Cordelia as Faith gives her a nod “where were you when Giles explained that to us” I questioned as she pouted “But why were you called here?” Willow wondered looking at Faith.

“Well, I wasn't. My Watcher went off to some retreat thing in England, and so I skipped out. I figured this was my chance to meet the infamous Slayer twins and compare notes” Faith grins at me as I replicate but Buffy didn't look as happy to meet Faith.

“So Nikki?” I looked over to Faith who was looking at me dubiously “Is it true you have Telekinesis” Everyone at the table looked around to see if anyone had overheard Faith as I nodded “Yep. I'm down with the mind powers” I told her as I moved the muffin tray discreetly.

Faith looked at the tray and laughed excited “So cool” she complimented before turning to Buffy “So, B, did you really use a rocket launcher one time?” Buffy winced at the nickname something I hadn't called her in a while at least in a kind tone.

“Uh, yeah, actually, it's a funny story. There was...” Xander interrupts Buffy story and turns to Faith “So what was the, uh, story about that alligator? You, uh, said something... before”.

“Oh, there's this Big Daddy Vampire out of Missouri who used to keep them as pets. So he's got me rasslin' one of 'em, okay? The thing must have been twelve feet long and I'm...” Xander interrupts once again “So was this, um, ahem, also naked?”.

Faith grins as she teases him “Well, the alligator was” I let out a laugh as Xander did “Xander?” Cordelia calls and glares when he looks “Find a new theme” Faith shakes her head, “I tell ya, I never had more trouble than that damn vamp” Faith turns to look at Buffy and I “So what about you? What was your toughest kill?”

I notice Buffy lowers her eyes and has a look of pain. Angel. She smiles weakly at Faith “Um, well, you know, they're all difficult, I guess” I just shrug at Faith “I haven't really been up against anything I struggled with”.

Faith looks at me impressed and takes a drink “Oh! Oh, do you guys remember the Three?” We all look back at Buffy inquisitively “That's right, you never met the Three. Well, there was three...”.

Oz interrupts Buffy and looks at Faith “Something occurring. Uh, now, you both kill vamps, and who could blame you, but, I'm, I'm wondering about your position on werewolves”.

Willow puts her hand on his shoulder sympathetically “Oz is a werewolf” Faith glances at us as Buffy smiles “It's a long story” I sigh eating a muffin “He got bit” Buffy looks at me annoyed “Apparently not that long”.

Faith considers it briefly “Hey, as long as you don't go scratchin' at me or humpin' my leg, we're five-by-five, you know?” she answers as I laugh, “I think you've got more of a chance of Xander doing that than Oz”.

Faith laughs loudly as Xander blushes and Cordy glares at me “The vamps, though, they better get their asses to DEFCON ONE, cause we are gonna

have fun, you know, Watcherless and fancy-free” Faith smiles deviously as Buffy and I look at her confused.

“Watcherless?” We question in sync as Faith looks around at everyone's confused faces “Didn't yours go to England, too?”

* * *

 

Giles stands at the end of the table with his hands in his pockets, reminiscing about the gatherings “There's a Watchers' retreat every year in the Cotswolds. It's a lovely spot. It's very s-serene” We all listen to him as he recites the Cotswolds to us.

“There's horse riding and hiking and punting and lectures and discussions. It-i-it's... it's a great honor to be invited” his voice turns a little bitter “Or so I'm told”.

Faith walks closer to Giles with her arms crossed “Oh, it's boring. Way too stuffy for a guy like you” Buffy looked over to Faith as I pull myself up on the counter to sit “Um, maybe I should introduce you again. Faith, this is _Giles_ ”.

“I see him. If I'd've known they came _that_ young and cute, I would've requested a transfer” I snigger at Faith's words as Giles takes off his glasses trying not to look flattered.

Buffy, however, looks grossed out “Raise your hand if 'ew'” she says as she raises her hand, Xander raises his but hides it by scratching his cheek. Giles chuckles “Well, um, uh, leaving aside for a moment my, uh, youth and beauty” he goes to the copier and grabs a newspaper “I'd-I'd say it was, um, fortuitous that Faith arrived when she did”.

Willow shoots up her finger “Aha!” she shouts loudly as we all look at her “Sorry. I just meant...” shoots up her finger again “aha! There's big evil brewin'. You'll never be bored here, Faith” Faith grins at her “'Cause this is Sunnydale, home of the big brewin' evil”.

“Yes, well, I don't know how big an evil it is, but, uh, two people have disappeared from the Sunset Ridge District,” Giles says as he hands me the newspaper and Faith comes over to scan the article with me.

“Well, I'm good for patrolling. Late-ish, though. I promised Mom I'd actually be home for dinner today” I say handing the paper to Buffy who frowns at Willow when she nods toward Faith.

Buffy turns her eyes to Faith, and gets the hint ”Um, to which you're also invited, of course, dinner with us” Faith frowns looking between Buffy and I before her face changes to realization “Wait so you're actually twins?” Buffy and I both nod slowly.

“Wow, I just thought they called you twins because there was two of you” Faith grins before throwing an arm over my shoulder “Dyin' to meet the fam. I'm in” I look at Faith questioningly but I don't remove her arm.

“Great! Great, then you can patrol” Buffy starts looking at the two us less than thrilled “also together” I frown at my sister wonder what her problem was when Willow speaks up “Hey, don't you have that health science makeup?”.

Buffy nods “Oh, yeah. Actually, I could use a little coaching” Willow hops off of the table, smiling “Wanna hang out?” I asked the brunette Slayer as Xander hangs over my shoulder “Say yes and, uh, bring your stories” I smile and push Xander off my shoulder as we walk to the door.

“You guys go. It's fine. Fine! I'll just...sit” Buffy mumbles as she sits at the table as Faith turns to Giles “We will talk weapons,” she says as she follows Xander, Willow and I out of the library.

Crossing my arms I smile at Willow as she perkily gives Faith the tour of Sunnydale High “And over here, we have the cafeteria, where we were mauled by snakes” I groaned remembering my food turning into a reptile.

Xander points down with a smile “And this is the spot where Angel tried to kill Willow and kissed...” I stop and take a breath as Xander looks at me “Oop sorry” Faith looks at us confused as we continue with the tour.

“Oh, and over there in the lounge is where Spike and his gang nearly massacred us all on Parent-Teacher night” I smiled remembering that night “And I kicked his ass with my telekinesis” Faith grinned as she bumped me.

We reach the stairs, and Willow points up to the landing “Oh, a-and up those stairs, I was sucked into a muddy grave, we'll until Nikki saved my life” Willow said giving me a sheepish smile.

We stop walking “And they say young people don't learn anything in high school nowadays, but, um, I've learned to be afraid” I laugh as the two of them nods in agreement.

Faith grins and laughs “You guys are a hoot and a half. If I'd had friends like you in high school, I... probably still would've dropped out. But I might've been sad about it, you know?”.

Willow and Xander give her understanding nods and exchange a smile, Faith crosses her arms “Hey, so what's up with B? I mean, she seems wound kinda tight. Needs to find the fun a little?” she asks me as I just shrug uncaring.

“Oh. Water” Faith mutters as she spies the drinking fountain and points as we both walk over to it, after taking a drink I lean against the wall waiting for Faith to finish hers. Seeing Scott come out of the cafeteria I watch carefully as Faith stands up and they almost bump into each other.

“Oh. Excuse me” Scott says politely as Faith looks at him curiously “Sorry. I know you from somewhere” Scott looks at her in recognition “The Bronze. You were there with Nikki and Buffy”.

Standing next to Faith I smiled at Scott “Scott, have you met Faith?” I introduced as they shook hands “ Nice to meet you” they both say as they let go of their handshake “Faith will be here visiting for a while” I inform him as Faith looks at me with a smile.

“Yeah, we should hang out sometime” Faith agrees as Scott smiles at her widely just as Buffy walks over to us “Hey!” she gives us a fake grin “Hey, Buffy! Uh, I've just met Faith” Scott tells my sister looking happy.

Buffy smiles big “She's great right” she takes our arms “And she's leaving. We have to go” Scott looks disappointed “Oh...” Faith gives Scott another smile “Bye” Buffy pulls us away and down the hall, Faith gestures back “He's a cutie. Is he seeing anybody?” Buffy just ignores her and continues down the hall.

* * *

 

Trick is typing away on his palm-top computer where he and Kakistos are holed up, The lights are low and candles are burning everywhere “Mr. Trick, talk to me” Kakitstos orders from where he sat.

Trick looks up “Check this out. This town, this very street, wired for fiber optics. See, we jack in a T-3, um, twenty-five hundred megs per, we have the whole _world_ at our fingertips” Kakistos looks up at him, not really understanding.

“What I'm saying is, we stay local--where the humans are jumpin' and the cotton is high--but we live global. I mean, you know, you get the hankering for the blood of a fifteen-year-old Filipina, and I'm on the 'Net and she's here the next day, express air” Trick smiles widely proud of himself.

Kakistos starts to lose his patience “I want the blood of the Slayer” Trick can't believe Kakistos' shortsightedness and looks aside for a moment “On that note, there's good news and bad. Rumor has it that this town already has not one but two Slayers. So that makes three” he shakes his head “I'm not real sure how that happened”

Kakistos jumps up from his chair shouting “I don't care if there're a _hundred_ Slayers! I'll kill them all!” he indicates his scarred, blinded eye “She's going to pay for what she did to me”.

Trick nods obediently “Yeah, she is” there's a knocking at the door “I'm running a computer check on every hotel, rooming house and youth hostel in town” Trick goes to get a welder's glove “Meanwhile, as soon as the sun goes down” he pulls on the glove “we're out in force” he heads for the door “Food's here, boys”

He opens the door, hiding behind it from the bright daylight outside, the Pizza Man looks in “You guys order a piz...” Trick lunges out with his gloved arm, grabs him by the shirt and yanks him in.

The pizza falls to the floor along with the delivery man as Trick slams the door shut again safe from the suns rays as he roars and bends down for lunch.

* * *

 

I smile a little as I sit at the dinner table as mom is serving dinner to Faith “So you're a Slayer, too. Isn't that interesting!” she smiles “Do you like it?” mom questions as she sets down the bowl.

“God, I love it!” Faith grins at her as I scoop myself some carrots “Uh, Mom?” Buffy calls putting her hand out for the bowl but mom waves her off “Uh, just a second, honey” she scoops broccoli onto Faith's plate and mine when I hold it up to her “You know, Buffy never talks that way and talking to Nikki is like getting blood out stone”.

I just look at her blankly as she motions to me “Why do you love it?” Buffy gives up and grabs a pair of tongs to take some fries for herself “Well, when I'm fighting, it's like the whole world goes away and I only know one thing: that I'm gonna win and they're gonna lose. I like that feelin'” Faith admits as she digs into her food.

“Very true,” I say pointing to her as mom smiles and takes her seat “Well, sure. Beats that dead feeling you get when they win and you lose” Buffy mumbles joining the conversation but Faith shakes her head “I don't let that kind of negative thinking in”.

Mom points at Faith “Right. That could get you hurt. Buffy can be awfully negative sometimes” mom tells Faith as I nod along “See, honey, you gotta fight that” mom smiles at Buffy who smiles back weakly “I'm working on it”.

Mom notices Faith's empty glass “Oh, Faith, can I get you another soft drink?” Faith hands over the glass “Oh, you bet” mom takes the glass with a smile “Right” she walks into the kitchen.

“She's really cool, huh?” Faith nods at our mom as Buffy grimaces “Best mom ever” she looks back into the kitchen “Excuse me” She gets up and goes, I smile as Faith grabs a bottle of hot sauce, gives it a sniff and grimaces.

* * *

 

Joyce gets out a bottle of cola, brings it to the island and opens it “I like this girl, Buffy” she tells her eldest daughter as she pours the soda “She's very personable” Buffy agrees

as she sits on a stool “my own sister likes her more than me right now”.

Joyce just gives Buffy a look of disbelief “It's true. She gets along with my friends, my Watcher, my mom” she leans back and looks into the dining room “Look, now she's getting along with my fries”.

Joyce closes the soda bottle “Now, Buffy...” Buffy sighs and cuts her mom off “Plus, at school today, she was making eyes at my not-boyfriend. This is creepy” Joyce crosses her arms “Does anybody else think Faith is creepy?”.

Buffy pouts “No, but I'm the one getting single-white-femaled here” Joyce nods and looks back into the living room where Faith and her troubled child were laughing together “she's having a good effect on your sister”.

“Mom, I'm just getting my life back. I'm not looking to go halfsies on it, Plus I want Nikki to want me to make her laugh again not Faith” Buffy pouts with jealousy as Joyce looks at her knowingly.

“Well, there are some things I'd be happy to see you share. Like the slaying. I mean, three of you fighting is safer than one or two, right?” Buffy nods at her mom's words “Unless, I mean, you heard her. She _loves_ the slaying. Couldn't she take over for you and Nikki?” Joyce asks leaning over the counter.

“Mom, no one can take over for me” Buffy stresses as Joyce continues “But you're going to college next year. I think it would be...” Buffy interrupts with a stern look “Mom, the only way you get a new Slayer is when the old Slayer dies”.

This quickly registers in Joyce's mind, and she straightens back up and Buffy realizes she's just said way too much “Then that means you...” Joyce looks at Buffy upset before her eyes drift to her youngest “When did you die? You never told me you two died!”.

“No, i-it was just for a few minutes” Buffy stuttered as her mom frowned “Nikki was a vampire for a few hours... she died on Halloween” Buffy explained when her mom looked at her incredulously.

Joyce starts to pace nervously “Oh, I hate this. I hate your life” Buffy stands as he mom faces her “Mom, I...” Joyce takes a deep breath “Look, I-I know you didn't choose this, I know it chose you. I have tried to march in the 'Slayer Pride' parade, but...” Joyce stops suddenly very solemn “I don't want either you to die”.

Buffy lowers her eyes shaking her head and gives her mother a warm hug “Oh...” Joyce gasps not expecting the hug “Neither of us is gonna die. We know how to do our job and Nikki's got her power” she releases the hug “Besides like you said, I've got more help now”.

She looks into the living room to see Faith picking at everything in sight and stuffing it into her mouth as her sister laughs at Faith gluttious display, Buffy raises her eyebrows “I've got all the help I can stand”.

* * *

 

Getting all my gear together I smile at Faith as she waits for me “ready” I nod as Buffy walks with us a little “Buffy, I don't think patrol needs three of us” I tell my sister as she turns to Faith and me with a raised eyebrow.

“Funny thing about vampires even when there's more than one Slayer they'll always attack you when you least expect it. It's like they have no manners” My sister tells us as I frown at her, we very rarely patrol together even when we were talking.

Faith shrugs “Mm. You've been doing this the longest” Buffy nods glad she agrees “I have” Faith sniffs “Yeah. Maybe a little _too_ long” Buffy looks at Faith as my eyebrows shoot up “Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?”.

“Nothing” Faith shrugs as Buffy confronts her “You got a problem?” Faith spreads her arms “I'm five-by-five, B, living entirely large, actually wondering about _your_ problem” she points at her.

“Well, I may not sleep in the nude and rassle alligators...” Buffy starts but Faith interrupts her “Maybe it's time you started, 'cause obviously _something_ in your bottle needs uncorking. What is it, the, the Angel thing?”.

Buffy stops in her tracks “What do you know about Angel?” I sigh as I realize we had only made it to our gate before the two began to argue and again I had to listen about Angel, Faith faces Buffy copping an attitude “Just what your friends tell me: big love, big loss. You oughta deal and move on, but you're not”.

Buffy steps closer to Faith “I got an idea: how about from now on, we don't hear from you on Angel or anything else in my life. Which, by the way, is _my_ life” Buffy growls as Faith laughs lowly “What are you getting so strung out for, B?”.

“Why are your lips still moving, F?” Buffy retorts as Faiths smirk drops “Did I just hear a threat?” Buffy smiles “Would you like to?” Faith just laughs like she can't believe what she's hearing “Wow. Think you can take me?”.

Shrugging at no one, in particular, I call out into the night “Hey vampires of Sunnydale can we have a timeout for like 5 minutes because two Slayers would rather fight each other than help the people your killing”.

Buffy and Faith both look at me as I continue “Oh and anyone getting killed right now I'm awfully sorry but this is obviously more important” looking at the two girls as they stood silently I sighed expectantly “are we done?”.

They both nod and I clap my hands “Great, Faith lets go, Buffy, you stay” I dictate until my sister takes my slaying bag in her hands “Nope, not today” I frown and look at the two of them as they walk away with Faith shrugging at me apologetically.

* * *

 

Walking to the library with Giles and Buffy the next morning I frown at my sister after she finishes telling us about Faith wailing on a vampire like she was crazy “I'm still pissed at you” I told her as she rolled her eyes at me.

“What you must realize, Buffy, is that you all have very different temperaments,” Giles says as he sips his coffee “Yeah, and mine's the sane one” I glare at Buffy who looks at Giles “The girl's not playing with a full deck, Giles. She has almost no deck. She has a three”.

Giles nodded and looked at Buffy “You said yourself that she-she killed one. Sh-she-she's just a plucky fighter who got a little carried away. Which is natural. She's focused on the slaying. She doesn't have a whole other life here, as you do”.

“She doesn't need a life. She has mine” Buffy pouts crossing her arms childishly, “I think you're being a little...” Buffy nods knowingly “No, I'm being a lot. I know that. But she nearly got us both killed. The girl needs help”.

Giles stops and sighs “ All right. I'll see if I can reach her Watcher at the retreat. They're” he looked down and checks his watch “eight hours ahead now. I guess they're probably sitting down to a nightcap”

Buffy and I continue on toward the library, but Giles just stands there and starts to stare off into space “I wonder if they still kayaking. I used to love a good kayak” Buffy and I walk back to him.

“You see, t-they don't even consider...” he sees the looks we are giving him “Sorry. I digress. The, um, vampires that attacked you, can you furnish me with some details that might help me trace their lineage? I mean, ancient or-or-or modern dress. Amulets, cultish tattoos...” Giles says as he sips his coffee again.

“Uh, no tats. Crappy dressers. And, uh... Oh, the one that nearly bit me mentioned something about kissing toast” a spark of recognition appears on Giles' face when Buffy mentions that “He lived for kissing toast”.

“You mean 'Kakistos'?” Giles askes her but she was in thought “Maybe it was taquitos. Maybe he lived for taquitos” Buffy looks at him “What?” I shake my head at my sister, she could be ditzy sometimes.

“Kakistos” Giles mumbles as he heads into the library as we both frown “Is that bad?” Giles quickly paces into and sets his things on the counter “'Kakistos' is Greek. It means the worst of the worst”.

Buffy looks at me worried as Giles heads behind the counter “It's also the name of a vampire so old that his hands and feet are cloven” I grimace at the thought as Giles goes into his office and comes out with a book, setting it on the counter and leafing through it.

“Now, this guy shows up two days ago, right? Right around the same time, my bestest new buddy makes the scene” Buffy mocks as Giles looks up and considers “You think he and Faith are connected?”.

“Giles, there are two things that I don't believe in coincidence and leprechauns” I roll my eyes at Buffy again “it's possible that they both arrived here by chance simultaneously right?” I ask as Giles nods.

“Okay, but I was right about the leprechauns, right?” Buffy questioned as Giles thinks for a moment “As far as I know, yes” Buffy grins and points to Giles “Good. Okay, you get England on the phone. I'm gonna talk to Faith, see if 'khaki trousers' rings...”

“Kakistos” Giles cuts in as Buffy says the name wrong “Kakistos rings a bell. Or an alarm” I look at my sister “No, you stay here and I'll go see Faith” I glance at Giles who nods in agreement as Buffy eyes me annoyed as she walked out of the library.

I sighed talking to Buffy tires me out, it felt too much like hard work lately. I frown as Giles walks out of his office looking discombobulated “What's wrong? Did you reach the retreat?”.

Giles looks at the floor solemnly “Yes, I did.” I look at Giles expectantly “Well What did her Watcher say?” Giles looks up at me slowly “Her Watcher's dead” I stare at Giles in disbelief before walking out of the library and to the bad part of town where I knew Faith was staying.

 

* * *

 

Reaching her room at the motel I stepped in as a man turns and looks at me “Roommates are extra” I just shrug him off “I'm just visiting” The manager gives up and walks out of the room and I reach for the door.

“So, what brings you to the poor side of town?” Faith jokes as I slam the door and turn to her “Cloven Guy. Goes by the name Kakistos” Faith looks at me taken aback “What do you know about Kakistos?”.

“That he's here” The look on Faith's face betrays her apprehension at hearing this “We're not happy to see old friends, are we? What'd he do to you?”

I question her as she quickly grabs her bag “It's what I did to him, all right?”.

She puts it on the bed and starts to stuff her things into it “And what was that? Faith, you came here for a reason. I can help” Faith looks up from packing “ _I'm_ the one that can handle this”.

I nod at her mockingly “Yeah. You're a real bad-ass when it comes to packing” Faith gives me a look “You don't know me. You don't know what I've been through. I'll take care of this, all right?” she heads for the door.

“What happened to your Watcher Faith?” This stops Faith cold, She lets go of the doorknob and looks down sadly and I realize as she turns to me “He killed her, didn't he?”.

Faith looks angry “They don't have a word for what he did to her” I look at her sadly knowing she'd been through a lot, There's a knock at the door and Faith looks through the peephole before sighing “Oh, what now?”.

“Faith, you run, he runs after you,” I tell her but she just shakes her head “That's where the head start comes in handy” She opens the door and sees Kakistos standing behind the dead manager, holding him up.

Faith steps back into the room aghast, Kakistos drops the manager's body and smiles at her “Faith” he drawls as I get a good look at him “wow you are not pretty” Kakistos roars and grabs Faith by the neck as she grabs his wrist and tries to pull him off of her, but he is too strong “No!”

I rush up between them and grab Faith pulling her back into the room and forcing Kakistos to let go before slamming the door on his arm. He yells in anger and pain and eventually pulls his arm out.

I slam the door shut, locks it and puts on the safety chain “I just bought us a little more...” Kakistos punches through the door and tries to reach for me “...time!”

Faith begins to panic and screams “NO! NOOOOO!” I look at Faith in disbelief “Scream later! Escape now!” I grab Faith's hand and drag her to the bathroom, kicking out the window I half push Faith throw through it before jumping down behind her “Let's go!”

Taking Faith's hand again I pull her into a run, reaching a fork in the alleyways Faith pushes me down one of them as we crash through a window in an attempt to escape.

Scrambling to our feet we see the vampire chasing them run right past “We're okay” I say as I face Faith “What happened?” I ask but she is too freaked out to think straight.

“Faith, what happened?” I ask louder and sternly as she shivers frightened “I... I was there when he killed my Watcher, and I saw what he did to her... what he was gonna do to me. I tried to stop him, but I... I couldn't. And I ran”.

Breathing hard I nod “Faith, first rule of slaying: don't die. You did the right thing. Okay? You didn't die. Now you do the math. One of him, two of us” Faith looks over my shoulder shaking her head “No”.

Grabbing her arm I nod “Yes” Faith looks panicky again “No” Turning around I see what she's looking at. There on the floor lie the bodies of the Pizza Man and others “This is his place” Faith mumbles and I suddenly realize “He drove us here”.

A vampire appears at an entrance and growls at us, we begin to run through the warehouse as the vampire gives chase. Two others come in from the other side and try to head us off.

I stop by a bucket, and put my foot in and kick it into one of the vampire's faces, he stumbles backward and over a chair. I turn into a full spinning hook kick to the other vampire and a sidekick to another one behind me, he falls backward over a table.

I run and jump onto the table, log rolls over it and kick him in the back as he tries to get back up. I see Kakistos walks into the building, his one-eyed gaze fixed on Faith.

Roling to a stand on the table I pick up a crowbar and swing it baseball style at yet another vampire advancing towards me, hitting her squarely in the neck and knocking her down and out “3 strikes and you're out!”.

Looking up I see Kakistos advancing on Faith “Faith!” I shout getting her attention “Don't die!” I say throwing her the crowbar. She catches the crowbar in mid-air, but before she can swing it at Kakistos, he punches her hard and knocks her into a bunch of large wooden beams leaning against the wall.

I knife hand my attacker in the neck and throw him into an assisted front tuck off of the table. Kakistos calmly steps up to Faith as she scrambles up against the wall, cowering. He reaches down and grabs her by the shirt, picking her up off of the floor “NO!” once he has her up, he punches her squarely in the face.

Knocking the legs out from under a vampire who was standing on a table, he rolls off of the table and onto his back where I lean down stakes him cleanly. I look up at Faith being whaled on by Kakistos.

Kakistos finally hits Faith hard enough to knock her from his own grip onto the floor as he roars loudly. Jumping up I run over to attack him, I roundhouse kicks him in the back of the knee, spins around and try to backhand him in the face, but he blocks it

I spin around and successfully backhand him in the face, seeing the other vampire getting up and running away I pull out my stake and try to slay Kakistos but the stake can't easily penetrate his thick hide, and so has little effect on him.

He grabs me by the hair, lifts her and throws me back but I ran back to him with a backhand, landing a hard punch. He swings at me but I ducks, standing back up I try to stake him again, even though the stake goes in deeper this time it still has no effect on him.

Again he grabs me by the head and shoves me back into the wall, I watch fearfully as he looms over me with a grin “I guess you need a bigger stake, Slayer!” he laughs maniacally as I stay back against the wall.

I see Faith is up and moving but before Kakistos can turn his attention back to her she thrusts a broken wooden beam through his chest and out his back. He looks down at it and back up at Faith, and then explodes into ashes as I stare in amazement.

Faith heaves a few heavy breaths as she looks around, stepping over to Faith I put my hand on her shoulder making her jump a little before we both look down at the pile of ash left by Kakistos.

“You hungry?” I question the brunette as she looks at me with different eyes “Starved” she nodded grabbing on to my arm as we both head out of the building leaving behind the remains of the monster Faith had been running from.

* * *

 

Sitting in the library with Buffy and Willow the next day, I already had explained to them what happened between Faith and Kakistos, why she was running from him and that we had slayed him together.

Buffy wasn't very happy hearing how Faith had put me in danger of being killed by an ancient vampire but she'd get over it, she had no choice. Giles comes out to the table in the main room with a smile.

“The council has requested that Faith stay here,” he tells us as Buffy sits up straighter “I'm to look after all of you until a new Watcher is assigned” I smiled happily thinking of Faith “Good. She really came through in the end. She had a lot to deal with, but she did it”.

Buffy snaps her head over to me “Still it doesn't change the face you got hurt because of her” I look at Buffy annoyed “no more than I've been hurt because of you” Buffy faces face crumples “What do you mean?” I sighed shaking my head “nothing”.

“I'm glad to hear it,” Giles says referring to what I had said about Faith “I'm glad she was able to get over her trouble,” Giles said aloud like he was talking to someone. Buffy looks down at the table sadly and quietly for a long moment “Angel was cured”.

Giles looks up at Buffy as do Willow and I “I'm sorry?” Buffy sighs shakily “When I killed him, Angel was cured” I sat shocked as Buffy turned to Willow “Your spell worked at the last minute, Will” Willow looks up, taking it all in.

“I was about to take him out, and, um something went through him and he was Angel again. He just held me. Um, but i-it was... it was too late, and I, I had to, he hurt everyone” she turned to me “he tried to turn you into a vampire. So I, I told him that I loved him... and I kissed him... and I killed him”.

She looks down at the table again for another long moment and we all stay silent “I don't know if that helps with your spell or not, Giles” Giles just nods “Uh, yes, I, I believe it will”.

Willow looks at Buffy very sympathetically “I'm sorry” Buffy shrugs but I knew how hurt she must have felt “It's okay” she gives them a little smile “I've been holding on to that for so long. Felt good to get it out” she pauses then smiles thinly “I'll see you guys later”.

She begins to walk out of the library while looking down at the floor and I started to feel something, she killed the love of her life for us and I suddenly realized I was punishing her for something he did to me, something she didn't even know about.

“Buffy!” I call as she turns to look at me shocked “Yeah?” she replies with hope “I'll see you at home later” I say as she smiles at me knowing what I was doing, she gives me a nod as I reciprocate “Later”.

As Buffy leaves Giles eventually starts to go back to his office, as he walks around Willow she gets up from her chair “Giles, I know you don't like me playing with mystical forces, but I can really help with this binding spell”.

“There is no spell” Giles informs us as he starts toward his office again, I let out a chuckle when I realize that he'd made the whole spell issue up to get Buffy to talk and release her inner sorrow “Well played G”.

* * *

 

Buffy slowly walks into Angel's now deserted mansion through a side door to the spot where she slew Angel. She looks down at the floor, and the tears begin to come. She slowly crouches down and looks at her Claddagh ring “Goodbye” she whispers quietly.

Gently she places the ring on the floor as she reflects for a moment before standing back up, looking at the great hall around her. She turns around and slowly starts

to walk away toward the main door when the room with the broken door caught her eye.

Walking into the room she saw a bed covered with bits of blood, looking up she noticed a pair of cuff attached to the bed and wondered if that was Angelus was into as Angel wasn't.

Turning around she felt her feet hit something on the ground, she looked down to see a stray black belt laying on the floor making her frown but it didn't mean much to her.

As she began to walk away a glint caught her eye and she got closer to the bed and noticed something metal was caught in between the sheets, picking up the piece of metal she gasped feeling sick when she recognized it immediately.

It was Nikki's belly ring, Buffy felt her stomach churn when she noticed the flesh-colored stuff stuck on the metal was actual flesh, this had been torn from her sister's stomach.

Dropping the metal Buffy ran from the room wanting to get him and talk to her sister, comfort her, she didn't know what she was going to do but she knew her sister had been hurt and that was okay with her.

A moment later a bright beam of light illuminates the ring on the floor. It gets more and more intense, and the ring begins to vibrate, clinking madly against the marble.

Suddenly the room is awash with a blindingly bright white light emanating from a dimensional portal opening above the ring. A body falls through and hits the stone floor hard.

The light fades as the portal closes, and a naked man is left lying there. He is unsteady as he tries to get up, but he is too weak to do more than lift his face. It is Angel, looking very dazed. His breathing is shallow and labored, and he shivers violently as he looks up at the room around him confused and horrified.

* * *

 

Finishing up my homework I jumped when my door is thrown open, throwing my alarm clock at the intruder I sigh when I see it's just Buffy holding my clock in her hand watching me carefully.

“God B, when I said I'd see you later I wasn't expecting you to give me a coronary” I joked but she didn't laugh, taking my clock out of her hand I put it back on the shelf “Who did it?” Buffy questioned as I put my homework away sensing I wasn't going to be finishing it tonight “Did what?”.

“Who hurt you at Angel's mansion” I felt my body stiffen as she growled at me, I turned to see Buffy crying “No one” I answered yet again as she let out a laugh in disbelief before running at me and grabbing my shirt “What the hell are you doing!” I shouted as she pulled it up.

“See! I found your belly ring, Nikki, it had your skin on it” I put my hand on my belly button remembering the pain I felt that was long gone now, the skin had healed over like nothing had ever happened to me, the only wound I had now were mental ones.

Looking down at my stomach I heard Buffy arguing with me but I wasn't listening as she fumed “Just tell me who it was!” she hissed one last time before my head shot up “Angel! It was Angel!” I screamed at her as she fell silent.

“He took turns in torturing Giles and me” I admitted finally, crossing my arms I looked at my shell-shocked sister “He cut me repeatedly with a dagger and then he ripped out my belly ring” I whispered as she stood looking at me before she wrapped her arms around me “I'm sorry” she whispered in my ear as she rocked me back and forth “I'm so sorry”.


	4. Beauty and the Beasts

Willow sat by Oz's cage, it was a full moon tonight and Willow always like to be with him whenever she could “He was sounding the deeps of his nature and the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the wombs of time. The rabbit could not...”

Suddenly werewolf Oz leaps up against the cage door and rattles it at her as she startles and steps back “Okay. Uh, maybe we should try a less stimulating passage” She flips through the pages of the book while Oz growls at her and settles back down in the cage.

Xander walks into the library, carrying a thermos and a couple of magazines, looking very tired “Private Harris reporting for Oz watch” Willow looks up from the book “Xander! Oh, good”.

Xander yawns as he walks up to her and takes the book out of her hands “Oh! 'Call of the Wild.' Aren't we reading the Cliff Notes to this for English?” Willow rolls her eyes at him “Some of us are”.

She takes back the book “Anyway, it'll help you stay awake. It's good and... and very wolfy” she looks at Oz “Seems to soothe the savage beast” She takes Xander's arm and leads him away from the cage toward the table.

Willow talks to Xander quietly “Except for the parts about...” she stops and begins to whispers “rabbits” Oz hears that, and jumps against the cage, banging it loudly as Xander and Willow both jump and look back at him.

Xander snags the book “Rabbits?” he asks confused as he looks it over before Willow takes the book back and puts it on the table “It... seems to make him a little overexcited. Okay. Now, he's had his 2:00 feeding, and, uh, after sunrise, if he forgets where his clothes are, they're on top of the file cabinet in his cage”.

Willow indicates to the towels on the cage “I put those towels up for privacy” Xander nods with a smirk “Uh, no worries. I can handle the Oz Full Monty” his face drops at his own words “I mean, not 'handle' handle, like 'hands to flesh' handle”.

Willow looks at the cage with lots of nervous gesturing “Well, it's not for you. It's for me, 'cause I'm still getting used to half a Monty” Xander shrugs with a nod “Oh. Good” before he realizes “Half? You and Oz? Which half?”.

Willow looks a Xander with a big smile “Wouldn't _you_ like to know? Anyway, he's more manageable tonight and on the third night. Tomorrow night, the total full moon, that's when he's a real wolfer”.

She reaches across the table “But in case there's trouble... there won't be, but if...” She holds up the dart rifle and Xander takes it from her with his right hand while still holding his things with his left, and slips his index finger into the trigger guard.

“Sleepytime. Gotcha” He holds the stock of the weapon against his shoulder “Thanks again for doing this. I wouldn't have asked, but I have this test” Willow rambles “No big. You can count on me. I got my coffee, magazines” Xander tells her as he looks at his things.

“Figured I'd read, maybe” he points with the gun “run the stairs over there a little bit. I'm good” Willow isn't thrilled with the way he's handling the rifle, and takes it out of his hand, giving him a nervous smile.

She sets it down on the table, gives him a little wave goodbye and starts out. On the way past the cage she gives werewolf Oz a little wave, too “Bye” Oz raises his head and growls as he watches her go.

Xander picks the book up from the table, inspects the cover and looks up at Oz when he decides to make himself more comfortable, he climbs onto the table, sets the book down at one end and lies on his stomach, using the book as a pillow.

He smiles as he settles himself for a relaxing nap, in the cage Oz lets out a loud growl as Xander's eyes slowly close.

* * *

 

Willow, Oz, Buffy and I climb the outside stairs from the quad up to the balcony, I hadn't really spoken to my sister since telling her about my torture at the hands of her ex-beau but she hasn't pushed it either.

“I don't think that's true, that every guy is in it only for the chase” Willow commented as Buffy frowns “I know. It is an awful generalization” we stop at the top of the balcony.

“Hey Buffy!” we all look along the balcony to see Scott approaching at a quick pace “That's what I stopped you for, basically. Hey” Buffy smiles widely at the attention “Okay, Hey” Scott's friends Debbie and Pete approach us too.

Oz notices them and holds up his hand in greeting “How do, Debbie?” the blonde girl smiles at Oz “Hi, Oz. Hey, you're not doing jazz band this year?” she asks holding onto Pete's arm “Oh, can't take the pressure. It's not the music that's hard, it's the marching”.

Buffy looks confused “We have a marching jazz band?” she looks at Scott inquisitively “Yeah, but, you know, since the best jazz is improvisational, we'd be going off in all directions, banging into floats... Scary” Oz answers as we all laughed “mhm and they all do it in little snazzy costumes” I grinned sarcastically.

Willow smiles at everyone “He's just being Oz” Oz looks at Willow with a wide smile “ and Nikki's, well...Nikki ” I look at the bouquet in Debbie's arms “What's with the flowers” Debbie glances at me in shock, I wasn't exactly known for friendliness.

“Pete brought them for me” She smiled up at Pete who in turn smiles at me “Yeah. Well, I-I'm sure your boyfriend does that kind of stuff for you, too” I just look at him seriously “I'm allergic”.

Pete goes quiet at my deadpan answers as Scott turns to Buffy “Oh well, we're not up to flowers or are we? Up to flowers? Did I miss flowers?” Buffy smiles at him reassuringly “No. We're pre-posy. Definitely” Scott looks relieved.

“What time is it?” Buffy asks as she grabs Scott's watch “Oh, I have to go see Mr. Platt today” she says out loud “Platt? The school counselor?” Debbie questions as Buffy looks sheepish “I get to convince him that I'm Little Miss Stable so I can stay in school”.

Buffy looks in my direction and frowns “How have you never had to go see Mr. Platt” I blink at my sister “I don't get caught” I see Debbie's eyes widen “Platt creeps me out. I would totally quit going, but I'm flunking senior bio, and my teacher says I have success issues” she giggles to herself.

“Senior bio? I kinda aced that final” Oz told us in his monotone voice as Willow pokes him in the side gently “And how did you do that? Oh, right. You showed up” Oz takes Willow's jibes good-naturedly.

Oz looks over to Debbie “If you want my notes, they're yours” Debbie smiles in relief “Thanks! That'd be great!” The bell rings and I turn walking away without saying goodbye, I wasn't one for fake friends.

Walking into the library a panicked Giles and Xander looked up quickly but relaxed when they saw it was just me until Willow and Oz walked in not long after “Right. It's good to see you. Um, no need to panic” Giles said as he gave us a stiff smile.

“Just a thought, poker, not your game” Oz jokes as I point to him “He's not wrong,” I say sitting on the check out counter “What's the deal, Giles?” Willow asks sounding worried as Giles starts to pace”

“Now, uh, bear in mind, uh, most likely, there, there, there is no deal” he stops and looks at Xander “but um, if, if, if there was a deal, then it, um, would concern murder... last night. A male student was, was found i-i-in the woods”.

“Which student?” I questioned, Buffy and Faith patrolled last night how had they not sensed anything “Jeff Orkin” I frowned I didn't know any Jeff “Jeff? He was...” Oz started as he glanced over at Xander who looks down at the floor guiltily “I knew him”.

“I'm afraid he was, he was, um, terribly mauled. Now, uh, much as I hate to think it, i-i-it could be the handiwork of, of...” Giles began and my eyes widened in realization as I looked over at Oz who seemed to understand too “Me”.

Willow looks at Oz very concerned “Wolf you, not you, you” Xander looks at Oz troubled “But it's not. Not wolf you, not you, you. The room was secured, the gate was locked” he said as he heads into the cage “and the window unbreakable, and...” he looks up at the window “open!”.

He points up at it as he comes back out of the cage as Willow gasps “Oh, God” I put my hand on her shoulder as Giles and Oz both go over to check the window, too “Not to freak. I rested my eyes now and then. That's all” Xander stutters as I jump down from the counter, Willow gives him a betrayed look.

Giles looks down at the floor “How long... exactly did you... rest your eyes for?” Giles questions as he glares at Xander, Oz just stares into space, turning the implications over in his mind.

“A little now, uh, a little then. But I never heard Oz leave, and he was here in the morning when I, um...” he stops in search for words “when I...” he stops again putting his hands in his pockets.

“WOKE UP!” Giles spat angrily “You could put it that way if you want to, Mr. Technical” Xander replies as we all stand quietly, Oz walks over to Willow, looking at her sadly “Oh, God” She takes Oz's hand to comfort him.

Oz looks at Giles imploringly as Cordelia walks into the room asking us what happened “Xander happened” I said glaring over at him as he started to explain what happened, sitting down on the stairs I watched as everyone followed suit except Giles who started to pace.

Not long after Buffy comes in and finds us all looking gloomy as she sets her bag on the table “I'm afraid to ask” she mumbles crossing her arms “Oz ate someone last night” Cordelia announces as Willow glares at her “He did not!”

Xander glances at Cordelia annoyed “Oz does not eat people, it's more werewolf play” Buffy looks at Giles inquiringly “You know, I bat you around a little bit, like a cat toy. I have harmless, wolf fun. Is it Oz's fault that you know, side effect, people get cut to ribbons, and maybe then he'll take a little nibble and...”.

Willow gives Xander a hurt look as Oz lowers his head “I'm not helping, am I?” Xander asks as Giles shakes his head “No. Oz may have got out of his cage last night” we all stopped to think about that “Or maybe there's another werewolf roaming the woods” Oz piped up sounding hopeful.

“Perhaps. Perhaps it's something else entirely” Giles says out loud thoughtfully “It's okay. We'll work together, and we'll figure this out” Buffy chimes in trying to pep us up “Yes. Um...Buffy. Uh, you, uh, you patrol the woods, Nikki your usual patrol and uh, the others, um, check out the morgue”.

I pout and turn to Giles “What! why can't I go to the morgue?” I argue as the others look at me weirdly and I turn to glare at them “so not fair”.

Willow looks up hopeful “Right! We can see if it's a werewolf kill or not” her face drops as she glances at Oz next to her “But what about Oz?” Giles nods thinking “Um... Well, I have some research materials at home I need to look up. Uh... W-w-we could ask Faith to watch over him”.

Oz looks up at Giles “What, you're having a Slayer watch me? Oh, good, we're not overreacting” He gets up to leave, not willing to listen to any more of this but Willow dashes up after him.

She reaches out and touches him on the shoulder, he stops and turns to face her “Okay. Uh, you know that thing where you bail in the middle of an upsetting conversation? I have to do that. It's kinda dramatic, I know, but... sometimes, it's a necessary guy thing”

Willow nods quickly “And I want you to... do the guy thing, but...” She glances and gestures at the clock on the wall and sighs, I look up at it as do the others, 5:34pm it's almost sunset.

Oz looks back at Will and lets out a heavy sigh, he looks over at the cage, and reluctantly walks into it slamming the door behind him wordlessly as Willow follows him looking confused “Oz?”

Oz is unwilling to look at her “Get away from the cage” I look at the others concerned by his attitude “What?” Willow asks in a hurt voice “ It's gonna happen soon” Oz says still not looking at her.

Willow still won't go “Get away from me” Oz finalizes as he turns his back to her, I frown as Willow looks hurt and confused by his behavior “Come on” I order as everyone gets up to do their respective task “let's give Oz some space”.

* * *

 

Willow's flashlight shines into a room where several bodies are lying on gurneys, she flashes her light on the closed body drawers along a wall until she finds the one she wants and opens it.

Pulling out the draw Willow lifts the plastic sheet away from Jeff Orkin's face as she sets her metal Scooby-Doo lunch box on his chest and opens it. Behind her, Xander approaches slowly as she pulls out a plastic bag and a pair of tweezers.

When Xander reaches her he takes one look at the body and nearly vomits “Oh, God” He bends over, holding his mouth, trying to hold it back. Willow just hands him the flashlight rolling her eyes “Here. Hold this”.

He doesn't hold it very steadily, and Willow tries to adjust his arm as she would a desk lamp, she takes Jeff's hand and tries to get a look at his fingers when suddenly Xander spins around and shines the flashlight into Cordelia's face as they both let out a shriek.

Willow just reaches for Xander's hand again and pulls it around to shine the light where she needs it “We're doing crime here. You don't sneak up during crime” Xander chided Cordelia as he finally gives Willow his attention again and holds the light steady.

“God, have a...” Cordelia stops and gets a look at Jeff's mauled body “Okay!” she covers her face “Scarred for life! Oh, God!” Willow just calmly goes about getting some samples from under Jeff's fingernails.

“Willow, how can you stand it?” Cordelia questions remembering how Nikki wanted to come to the morgue too “Yeah, Will. I mean, this guy _is_ pretty barf-worthy. Can't we be elsewhere? Like, you know, is Oz cleared or what, huh?” Xander asks as he tries not to look at Jeff's body.

Willow finished with Jeff's hand and puts it back under the plastic, she moves the flashlight in Xander's hand around and inspects the rest of the body “I'm not sure. I mean, there are a lot of incised wounds, but they could be from anything”.

“Anything with big, sharp teeth and vicious...” Xander interrupts Cordelia's unhelpful words “Do you wanna go back to the car and wait?” Willow starts to pick at Jeff's chest with the tweezers.

Cordelia stares at Xander taken aback “No. God. I'm just saying...” Willow placed the hairs in the bag “Almost done. Lemme just get a few stray hairs from the body. They could be from the attacker”.

Cordelia holds her nose against the stench “Great. So we got everything we need?” Xander questions as Willow steps back from the body “Yep. That's it” She drops the tweezers and faints falling back into Xander who quickly gets an arm under her as she goes down, and they all sink to the floor.

“Okay. Uh... little too much excitement for the Wilster here” Xander comments as he steadies Willow's head against his chest “Doesn't look good for Oz, does it?” Xander ponders as Cordelia shakes her head “It really doesn't” they look up at Jeff “This guy was ripped apart by a big wild animal”.

* * *

 

Walking into the library with Giles the next morning I smirked seeing Oz laying on the floor of the cage naked “well he looks peaceful” I whisper as Giles unlocks the door and pulls it slightly open, he just give me a look as we both walk further in the library.

Looking up I frown as I see Buffy in the stacks curled up and asleep in a chair with a book on her lap and a drawer from the card catalog next to her on a step stool. Other books are lying on the floor around her like she had been looking through them for something specific.

I watch as Giles quietly takes the steps to the upper level and reaches down for one of the books. As he does so Buffy stirs from her slumber and looks up at him “Hey” she whispers quietly “Hmm. Hello” he replies as he sips his coffee.

Buffy's eyes open in alarm as she sees the two of us “Oh. Boy” she stands up quickly “Faith and her nutty books” Giles looks at the books “Exploring Demon Dimensions and Mystery of Acathla”.

The familiar pounding of my heart started again hearing those titles “Yeah! And she still listens to heavy metal” Buffy jokes as she walks toward the stairs “Freaky deaky” Giles and I look at each other before he looks back at my sister “Buffy...”.

Realizing that she was caught in her ridiculous lie she leans against the railing and looks at the two of us “What if... I told you that... I had a dream about Angel... and, um... it brought up some questions?”.

I frowned at the thought, both of us were having dreams of the same man but I can guarantee they were severely different “I'd say it was to be expected. Must have been some dream. I didn't think you knew what a card index was for” Giles sips his coffee.

“I dreamt that he came back” Buffy confides as she sits down on the steps and I nearly throw up at her words as Giles comes down to sit with her “Of course. After Jenny was killed, I had dreams that she was s-still alive, that I saved her”.

“This was vivid. Really vivid. Three-dimensional, Sensurround, the hills are alive...” Buffy stops when she realizes her use of Jenny's metaphor, Giles takes off his glasses and considers for a moment “Do you believe it was a prophecy?”

My eyes widen considerably and Buffy looks at me “No. I-I don't know. I...” she inhales deeply and looks back to our Watcher “I guess it just... it made me wonder” I frowned at Buffy “Would you want it to be real?” I questioned my sister as she just looked at me.

Giles looks away in thought as Buffy gives him another question “Is there a chance even? Could it happen?” Giles sighed but he didn't face Buffy “Well, there's no record of anyone returning from a demon dimension once the... gate was closed. I-I-I can't imagine how it could happen or-or why”.

“Let's just pretend for a second that... Angel somehow found his way back to Sunnydale. What would he be like?” Crossing my arms I looked at my twin suspiciously “I really can't say. From what is known about that dimension, i-it would suggest a world of... brutal torment. And time moves quite differently there, so...”

Buffy cut Giles off “I remember. So he would've been down there for hundreds of years” she questioned sounding sad “Yes” Giles answered as he looks up at her “Of torture” she checked as Giles nodded “Good” I spoke but Buffy didn't acknowledge my hiss.

“It would take someone of extraordinary... will and character to survive that and, uh, retain any semblance of self. Most likely, he'd be, be a monster” Giles informs her “A lost cause” Buffy whispers her tone hopeless.

“Maybe. Maybe not. In my experience, there are... two types of monster. The first, uh, can be redeemed, or more importantly, wants to be redeemed” Giles told Buffy as she gulped “And the second type?”.

“The second is void of humanity, cannot respond to reason... or love” Giles finished as Buffy let out a breath “Why do you even care B?” I questioned her as she turned to me looking guilty.

“Angelus liked what he did, he should be in hell for what he did to me.. to us” I told her as Giles held my arm “the longer the torture the better, he doesn't deserve redemption or forgiveness” I shout at her taking my arm back and storming past a tired doughnut wielding Willow.

* * *

 

Buffy walks into the mansion and goes through the heavy drapes hanging across the side entrance. Angel crouches against the wall, whimpering as Buffy stops at the wall opposite him and looks at him suffering.

She couldn't help but feel a pang of pain seeing him like that, even after all the bad and truly evil things he had done she hated to see Angel like this.

Slowly she comes toward him, Angel just remains hunched over in his crouch, not

looking up or giving any indication that he knows she's there “Angel?” she quietly calls out but he doesn't seem to hear her.

“Do you understand me?” she calls out again but she still gets nothing from him, not even a squeak. She goes even closer, the tattoo on his back beckons to her. Slowly she reaches out and touches him lightly on the shoulder.

He suddenly and very violently lashes out at her and roars and she instantly takes several steps backward away from him as he goes back to his pathetic whimpering. Buffy looks at him, terribly hurt, and rushes from the mansion remembering her sister's hurtful words about him earlier.

Angel growls deeply at her and above him, the mantel bracket begins to loosen as dust falls from the stone as he pulls against the chain manically.

* * *

 

Sitting in the library with Giles, Willow, Buffy, and Faith I watch as Giles paces as we all talk about the brutal murder of Mr. Platt, Buffy found him dead in his office completely mauled during her mandatory session with him.

“This creature is especially brutal. I believe the phrase coined by the coroner when describing Mr. Platt was 'pureed'. But he did confirm that Platt was killed shortly before Buffy found him” Giles informed us as we all listened.

“Which means that he was killed during the day” Faith deducts as we fist bump at her words just as Willow screams out and raises her fist elated “Yes!” We all give her a look.

“Sorry. I got...” she lowers her hand stuttering “I've just been... it's horrible, horrible” she finishes as she swallows deeply “It's okay, Will. We're all glad Oz is off the hook” Buffy tells the redhead with a smile.

“Indeed” Giles checks his watch confused “Shouldn't he be here by now? The sun sets at 5:30” Willow looks at us concerned but I just shrug “he'll be here, it's Oz” I tell her comfortingly as she nods.

“Our task now is to determine what sort of killer we _are_ dealing with. Clearly, we're looking for a depraved, sadistic animal” Giles says aloud as Oz walks in and raises his hand “Present”.

Willow smiles jumps up and goes over to him, pushing Giles aside in her eagerness to reach him “Hey, I may be a cold-blooded jelly doughnut, but my timing is impeccable” Oz says as I grin at him.

Willow grabs him with both hands smiling “But you aren't! I-i-it's-it's a kill-in-the-day monster! A hundred percent for sure” Oz smiles very relievedly “Okay” Willow puts her arm around him and faces the group along with him smiling also.

“Uh, I wish we had time to celebrate properly. However, we have two victims: Jeff Orkin and, uh, now Platt. Uh, maybe there's something they had in common” Giles asks us as everyone thinks.

“Missing internal organs,” I say as Faith points at me in agreement with a tongue click “Besides that” Giles gestures to me “Debbie” Oz mutters as we look at him “Well, victim number one, Jeff. He was in jazz band with us. They used to horse around”.

“They were screwing?” everyone gives Faith a look as I grinned at her thought train “I don't think so, but he hid her music comp book once” Oz informs us “And we know that Debbie knew Platt. I mean, she was seeing him and way vocal about not having love for the guy” Buffy adds as we begin to piece it together.

“Add this and stir. I just saw Debbie a minute ago sporting a nasty black eye” Oz tells us looking suspicious “Okay, so pretend Debbie wanted Platt dead. Maybe he fought back” Willow says sounding unsure.

Buffy shakes her head “No. Platt was dead in an instant. He didn't even drop his cigarette. Now, what if boyfriend Pete's the one doling out the punishment?” I frown at Buffy's words “I knew I didn't like those two” Buffy rolled her eyes at me “Yes your hatred of people is impeccable”.

“Impeccable, totally right every time... but hey whose counting” I smirk at her as Giles speaks up “We should find them both immediately” He and Buffy grab their coats “Well, Debbie was in the quad a minute ago” Oz explains as we're all up and moving.

“All right. We'll split up. Um, Faith, you and I team. Willow, stick with Nikki and Buffy” Willow gives Oz a saddened look and follows the others out when he realized and sighs “And I'll... go lock myself in the cage”.

* * *

 

Walking to the girl's locker room I was flanked by Buffy and Willow, pushing open the door I walk in to see Debbie is trying to hide her black eye with makeup, she gives us a look but just keeps on applying makeup.

“It's tricky, covering a fresh shiner like that. You know what works?” I say standing behind her “What?” she questions putting away her makeup “Don't get hit” I jeer as Buffy moves me out of the way.

“What's going on, Debbie? I'll bet the farm you know” Buffy asks trying the nice routine “You're wrong. I don't know anything” Debbie lies shaking her head “Normally, I'd say, you wanna play 'I have a secret'? Fine. But people are dying here” Buffy tells her as she looks between the 3 of us.

“It... it's not his fault. I mean, he's not himself when he gets like this” Debbie cries out “You mean Pete” Buffy deduces as Debbie looks upset “It's me. I make him crazy. He-he just does what he does because he loves me too much”.

“But weren't Mr. Platt and Jeff murdered by an animal?” Willow questions as I smirk at the mousey blonde “Pete's not like other guys, is he, Debbie?” Debbie realizes we know more than they are letting on “I-I've gotta go”.

She grabs her purse and starts to leave but Buffy takes her by the arm and stops her “You have to talk to us” Debbie shakes her head “We can't help you until you do” Buffy tells her as Debbie frowns at us “I didn't ask for your help!”.

“Well, when are you going to? I mean, if Pete kills you, it'll pretty much be too late” Willow argues as Buffy looks at Debbie desperately “Debbie, we're running out of time”.

“B just let me handle her” I groan to my sister as Debbie looks at me nervously knowing the meaning behind my words “Where can we find him?” Buffy questions as Debbie shakes “I-I don't know”.

I let out a loud groan and look at the floor leaning against a locker “You're lying” Buffy barked at Debbie “What if I am? What are you gonna do about it?” I look up with a smirk at Debbie's words as Willow eyes me nervously.

“Wrong question” Willow gulps as she and Buffy move out of the way, Debbie looks confused until I step up to her with a wicked grin “Don't hurt her” Buffy warns me as I roll my eyes.

Reaching out and getting a grip on Debbie's arm like a striking viper I pull on her arm as she fights against me, pushing her up against the sink in front of the mirror I grab the back of her neck and forced her to look in the mirror.

“Look at yourself. Why are you protecting him? Anybody who really loved you couldn't do this to you” I hiss in her ear as she lets out a sob, feeling Buffy tug on my arm I step away.

Debbie turns around to face us “Would they take him someplace?” she whimpers as Buffy shrugs “Probably” Debbie shakes her head sobbing “I could never do that to him” Willow sighs “I'm his everything”.

I look at her disgusted “Great. So what, you two live out your Grimm fairy tale? Two people are dead” Debbie just shakes her head and says nothing as Buffy folds her arms next to the girl “Who's gonna be next?”.

Debbie sat on the bench and pulled her legs up, hugging herself and looking off into space, chanting repeatedly “He does love me. He does love me” I frowned at the blonde girl as she chanted with no chance of stopping.

Buffy sighed “This is useless. We have to go, we have to find Pete” Buffy tells me as I nod in agreement “He does love me” I roll my eyes as Willow tries to get Debbie to stand up and go with her “Come on”

Debbie resists Willow “He does love me” I looked at Debbie who seemed to have a blank look in her eyes, “I think I broke her” I mumbled to Buffy listening to Debbie's annoying chants behind me.

Buffy stops at the door looking back at us “I think she was broken before this” she whispered, “Do you think I could slap her out of it?” Buffy gave me a look as Debbie's chants stop suddenly “God you really do put the fear into people, Nik”.

Hear a scream of agony we all started to run down the hall towards the library as Giles and Faith come running also from another hall “What was that?” Giles called to us as we all barge through the door together.

My eyes widen seeing Oz as a werewolf fighting what I was assuming is Pete, his face looks so weird and distorted, Oz has his jaw clamped hard on Pete's arm, and Pete repeatedly punches him in the gut.

“Get the dart gun!” Giles shouts out aloud as Buffy reaches behind the counter and grabs the dart rifle “Got it!” She cocks it and takes aim past Giles but Debbie shoves Buffy aside to protect her murderous boyfriend “Pete, watch out!”

The gun goes off, and the dart hits Giles in the hip “Ow!” Giles cried out, Pete finally manages to flip Oz over onto the floor and get free of his jaws. Looking over to Buffy I notice her shock that she shot Giles “Oh! Sorry!”

I grab Debbie's arms and hold her in front of me just in case she tries anything else, glancing over at Giles I see him nod drunkenly “Oh, right. Bloody priceless” The drug takes effect quickly, and Giles staggers and falls to the floor, pushing a table into Oz as he tries to get away.

Oz runs through the door to behind the counter, leaps over it and runs out of the library. Buffy tries to take aim but can't get a clear shot she tosses the rifle to Faith “You get the wolf!” Faith nods quickly “Got it!” She runs out of the library with Willow close behind looking more worried about Oz by the second.

Suddenly I felt myself being hit and I look up to see Debbie dropping what seemed like the biggest and hardest book she could have found and run up the stairs to escape out through the stacks “Bitch!” I exclaim rubbing my face where she hit feeling dizzy.

Leaning against the cage I watch as Buffy delivers a roundhouse kick to Pete's head, he stumbles up the stairs and onto the upper-level floor as Buffy pursues him as he gets to his feet.

She punches him with a right followed by a left making him stagger over to the side of a bookcase, grabs it and shoves it over onto her. It lands on top of her with a loud thud, dumping its contents all around her.

Getting to my feet I suddenly hear a roar and groan as Pete knocks me back down before running out of the library “Well this is just my lucky day” I mumble sarcastically as Buffy and I get back to our feet again.

Running out of the library we look down the two hallways and decide to split up “God I hope I find him” I tell Buffy menacingly thinking about the fight as I run off in pursuit of monster Pete.

Rounding the corner I let out a shout as I'm leaped on, pushing Oz's face away from mine I watched as he bared his teeth at me “Don't make me neuter you Oz!” I shout struggling with the heavy werewolf.

“Faith!” I shriek as I try to keep myself away from Oz's teeth, one bite from him and I'm howling at the moon, seeing Faith and Willow round the corner I sigh with relief “shoot him”.

Faith picks up the rifle just as Oz jumps up and swings at her sending her into the wall “Faith” Willow calls as Oz turns back to me just as I'm about to get up “Don't even think about it!” I warn as he jumps back on me.

Seeing Willow stood by the wall hyperventilating I knew I needed her to help me “Where's the gun?” I ask her gently as she continues to panic “WHERE'S THE GUN?!” I scream making her jump and get behind Oz yanking his tail “Get off her!”.

She starts to run down the hall as Oz releases me and starts to run after her “Get the gun! Get the gun!” she calls over her shoulder desperate as I scramble to my feet with the rifle Faith dropped.

“Hurry!” Willow pleaded as I lifted up the rifle and took aim “Time for Bye Bye's” I mumble pulling the trigger and hitting Oz in the butt. He yelps and whimpers for a moment turning his head to me and then falls unconscious.

With the help of Faith and Willow, we got Oz back in the cage and I fix the cage door as much as I can “So did you get Pete?” Faith asked as I sat down holding the ice pack that Giles keeps in his office on my eye were Debbie hit me.

“No, I found a snarling werewolf who tried to tear out my throat” I joked as Willow frowned at me “Buffy must have found him by now” I put a hand to my throbbing head “God knows where Debbie got to”.

* * *

 

Buffy crawls out through the window onto a roof. She steps to the edge, looks down and jumps. She looks around, and behind her through another window notices a lamp swinging from the ceiling.

She rushes over to the door and forces it open, everything inside seems quiet, she looks around and soon finds Debbie lying on the floor behind a rack “Oh, God” She bends down to check her pulse, nothing, she's gone.

Pete grunts and grabs Buffy from behind, he throws her against some crates, and she hits the floor, dazed. Pete smiles as he comes for her, he grabs Buffy by the arm and backhand punches her.

“All the same!” He growls as he punches again “You're all the same!” He backhand punches her a third time, and she falls from his grip. As he advances on her, she push kicks him off and away from her into a stack of crates.

Behind her, the door opens, and she looks back to see Angel standing there in his game face, he roars deeply and attacks Pete. He swings his chains at him and gets Pete in the face, he swings the chains the other way and gets Pete in the face again.

Pete lunges at Angel and bends him backward over a crate with his hands around Angel's throat. Buffy stands up and steps back, watching them fight. Pete pulls Angel up from the crate and throws him to the floor, he turns his attention back on Buffy and starts to advance on her.

Behind him Angel gets up and comes at him, wrapping the chains around his neck, he lifts Pete over his back and slams him down on the floor. Pulling at the chain Angel starts choking Pete, Buffy winces when she sees as Angel gives Pete's neck a twist and breaks it.

He lets go, and Pete falls dead to the floor as Angel looks down at his kill, and begins to calm down. Pete has changed back to his normal state. Angel breathes heavily as he looks up and over at Buffy.

They just stare at each other for a moment while Angel catches his breath, he slowly starts to go to her and changes to his human face. He stops in front of her as she looks up at him, not knowing what to expect.

After a long and intense look, he finally speaks “Buffy?” He falls to his knees and holds her tightly, Buffy is surprised by this turn of events and isn't sure what to do. Angel just keeps holding her even tighter and starts to sob into her jacket “Buffy...”

She finally seems to accept that he's back and sheds a few tears. Her head and heart are too heavy with thoughts and emotions for her to speak but for now, she was just going to come to terms that the man she loved and the man who tortured her friends and family was back.

* * *

 

Walking along the colonnade with the other I let out a yawn from my long night of watching Oz and making sure he didn't escape again or break out of the poorly fixed cage door.

Willow and Oz hold hands as do Xander and Cordelia “It's all over school, what happened with Debbie and Pete. Except for the Pete-was-a-monster part” I frowned thinking back to when I threatened Debbie and now she was dead.

“Yeah. A freshman told me that Pete had eight iced cafe' mochas and just lost it” Oz mentioned as I chuckled thinking about all the different theories that had come up “That's better than the estrogen theory. I heard he took all of his mother's birth control pills”.

“He didn't?” Cordelia asked looking shocked before turning to Xander “Pete was a monster?” Xander nods “Where have I been?” Cordelia sighs looking confused “In your special place, Cor, which is why I adore you” Cordy smiles at Xander then frowns “So, what's the true story? What happened?”.

“Well, we got a hold of, uh, Pete's lab books and stuff, and Mr. Science was doing a Jekyll/Hyde deal. He was afraid Debbie was gonna leave him, so he mixed this potion to become super mas macho” Willow explained to her.

“The only thing was, after a while, he didn't need the potion to turn into a bad guy. He did it just fine on his own” Buffy added as Cordy sighed “So it was like a real killing. He wasn't under the influence of anything?”.

“Just himself” I confirmed frowning at the thought “Uh... I'll see you guys later” I watched as Buffy made her way over to Scott “Great. Now I'm gonna be stuck with serious thoughts all day” Cordelia complained as she walked away with Xander following.

Willow and Oz stay by me to see how it goes between Buffy and Scott “I'm glad she's moved on” Willow smiled as I shrug “I'm just glad she doesn't have Angel on the brain anymore”.

“Talking about Angel, how are you doing?” Willow asks looking at me concerned as Oz looks in my direction “I'm fine” I tell them as they look at each other dubiously before turning back to me “Nikki...” Willow started but I cut her off “I don't know what you want from me Will but I will be fine” frowning to myself I sighed heavily “I _have_ to be”.


	5. Homecoming

Standing in the line for yearbook pictures I watch as my friends get there's taken first, as I lean into Beck who has his arm curled around my neck lovingly. Cordelia gives the camera a glowing smile, and her picture is taken. Xander is up next, and he gives the camera a goofy, heavily dimpled smile as the flash goes off.

Willow hops up on the stool and gives the camera a big grin when the photographer doesn't immediately snap her picture, her expression becomes a bit concerned, and unfortunately, that will be her picture in the yearbook.

Oz just stares blankly into the camera with a thin smile on his face as the photographer snaps the picture, giving Beck a kiss I sit down on the stool and give the camera a small Nikki Summers smirk.

Turning around I watched as Beck sat on the chair and instantly lit up a cigarette making Willow gasp in shock as I let out a laugh at Beck's obvious rebellion, the click of the camera cemented his picture and he stood from the chair giving me a wink as he walked over the doors leading to the quad.

Finishing our pictures being taken, Xander, Willow and I start to walk out of the lounge as Beck walks to his next class “You have to help me pick an outfit. I wanna wear something that makes Oz go, 'Oh.'” she grins at me.

“No problem. I've already got my dress and I know Beck is going to drool as soon as he sees me” I smirk at my little redhead friend “I got the tux goin' on. I'm gonna look hot if it even remotely fits” Xander tells us as we laugh together.

We reach Cordelia, who is looking at the other girls that are running for Homecoming Queen “Whatcha doin'?” Xander questions startling Cordelia as she turns to face us “Checking out the I-laughingly-use-the-phrase competition”.

She looks over at a girl playing with her hair and talking to a couple of boys as Oz comes up behind us and gently puts his arm around Willow “Holly Charleston: nice girl, brain dead, doesn't have a prayer”

She shifts her gaze to another girl, she is handing out campaign flyers “Michelle Blake: open to all mankind, especially those with a letterman's jacket and a car” she looks at Xander concerned “She could give me a run”.

“Where's Buffy? She's gonna miss the yearbook pictures” Willow asks me as Oz looks around “Buffy and Faith are in the library getting all sweaty” Xander smirks as I look at him “They're training” I correct looking back to Willow “And Buffy's avoiding me which is weird because I'm the one that usually avoids her”.

“I don't think she was here the day they announced them. Did anybody tell her?” Oz wonders as we all shake our heads “Oh, I'll tell her now. I have to go to the nurse's office for an ice pack anyway” Cordelia says as Xander puts his hand on her arm looking worried “Did you hurt yourself?”

Cordelia smiles and nudges him “No, silly. It shrinks the pores!” as she walks off Oz gives Xander a look that oozes 'duh'.

* * *

 

Faith holds up her padded hands as Buffy throws several punches to them, after a particularly hard punch, Faith has to shake out her hand and take off the pads “Oh, man! Guys should break up with you more often”.

“Gee, thank you” Buffy mutters as she heads toward the book cage as Faith follows “No, I mean it. You really got some quality rage going. Really gives you an edge” Faith compliments as she sets down the pads.

Buffy picks up her jacket “Edge Girl. Just what I always wanted to be” she grumbles sarcastically as Faith wipes her cheek with a towel “Well, screw him, alright? You move on, and... you party heavily, and you'll be fine. I mean, you're still going to that dance, right?”.

Buffy opens a juice bottle “Maybe” she shrugs as she takes a drink “You got the tix already. Why don't we go together?” Faith questions as Buffy shrugs closing her bottle still not really wanting to enter a friendship with Faith “I don't know about that”.

“Come on. We'll find a couple studs, we'll use 'em and... discard 'em. That's always fun” Faith nods and takes a swig of her own drink “Okay, I'm in. Not the stud-using part, though” Buffy gives Faith a smile.

Cordelia looks into the library through the round door windows and sees the two Slayers talking. She pushes the door open and is about to go in when she notices two boys walk by. She slips back into the hall and rushes to catch up with them “Uh, Bobby! Mashad!” she smiles and giggles “You don't phone, you don't write...” she makes eyes at them “Where's the love?”.

Buffy comes out of the library and sees the teacher she's been waiting to talk to “Ms. Moran?” the teacher looks up “Hi! I'm so glad that I ran into you” Buffy smiles as they walk slowly side by side “Um, I had this little incident last year of getting kicked out of school” Buffy stutters as the teacher looks at her blankly.

“And I'm back now, though, I've done all of my makeup tests, but I still need one written recommendation from a teacher. I think the word that Principal Snyder used was 'glowing'” Buffy smiles awkwardly “Uh, to put in my file so I can prove that I belong here”.

Ms. Moran looks at Buffy confused “And, um, you are...?” Buffy stops taken aback “Buffy. B-Buffy Summers” Ms. Moran tries to remember “Third row. I sat by the window. Uh, your class: Contemporary American Heroes from Amelia Earhart to Maya Angelou. The class that changed my life?”

Ms. Moran glanced at Buffy still not remembering her “Were you absent a lot, um...” Buffy eyes the teacher sadly when she realizes that Ms. Moran has no idea who she is “Buffy”.

* * *

 

Willow, Oz, Buffy, Xander and I are sitting at a table in the cafeteria as Cordelia walks into view holding out fliers and grabbing random students by the arm “Hi. I hope you'll consider me for Homecoming Queen”.

“I can't believe it. My favorite teacher and she didn't even remember who I was. I'm like a non-person” she looks at Oz “Am I invisible?” she waves her hand in front of him “Can you see me?”.

Oz nods “Big as life” Buffy huffs loudly “At Hemery, I was Prom Princess, I was Fiesta Queen, I was on the cheerleading squad. And the yearbook was, like, a story of me. Now it's senior year, and I'm going to be one crappy picture on one-eighth of one crappy page”.

Rolling my eyes I look up at my sister “Uh, no, actually, you're not” she looks back at me confused “What do you mean?” I shrugged drinking my soda “you missed the picture-taking”.

Buffy eyes go wide with surprise “When? Why?” she splutters as Oz looks at her “We already did 'em,” he told her monotonously “Why didn't you tell me?” Buffy almost shouts at me as I looked at her annoyed “Cordelia was supposed to tell you!” I called back as Buffy settles her gaze on a campaigning Cordelia.

Cordelia grabs another students arm to hand them a flier when I realize it's Beck “Cordy don't make me count” I warn as she let's go of my boyfriend's arm quickly as if he was on fire. Beck smirks as he sits next to me and gives me a kiss.

“So you're the infamous Beck” Buffy started and I looked at her annoyed “Just no” Buffy tried to again but I put my hand on her face “Still going to be a nope” I heard Beck let out a laugh next to me as I denied my sisters attempts of talking to him.

I glared at Buffy and uttered the words that sent her back on the warpath “Yearbook photos” Buffy's face darkened again as she got up from the table “Buffy, you look so cute in that outfit” I heard Cordy say falsely “I'm not voting for you” Buffy replied as I look up to see the two girls glared at each other.

“Then make it snappy” Cordelia says grumpily as she continued to pass out fliers “How come you didn't tell me they were doing the yearbook pictures?” Buffy questions crossing her arms as I watch entertained knowing something good is about to happen.

“Didn't I? Oh, I guess I forgot. What's the big?” Cordelia shrugs making Buffy look angrier “It's just...” Buffy exhales looking like she was trying to contain herself “You could've thought about somebody else for thirty seconds, that's all”.

Beck tried to speak up when I put my finger on his lips and leaned into him “Shh, it's about to get good” Beck quietened down and pulled me in closer “You're evil” he whispered in my ear as I smirked.

“Hey, I am under a *lot* of pressure here” Cordy protested as Buffy sighs annoyed “Oh, yeah, campaigning. Rough gig” she replies sarcastically “What would you know about it? Just because you were Guacamole Queen when you were three doesn't mean you understand how this works”.

“Obviously, it involves handing out entirely lame fliers” Buffy scoffs although I remember how crazy she was back in Hemery and how manipulative she became for the votes of our fellow classmates.

No. It involves being part of this school and having actual friends” Buffy takes offense and glares at Cordelia “Now, if it was about monsters, blood, and innards, then you'd be a shoo-in. I'd like to see *you* try to win the crown.

Beck looks at me confused at the monster comments but I just shake my head dismissing it “You would?” Buffy questions rhetorically as Cordelia huffs and walks around Buffy to leave “Then you will” Cordelia stops in her tracks and turns to face her.

“What does that mean?” Cordy asks as Buffy faces her “I'm gonna show you how it's done. I'm gonna run for Homecoming Queen, and I'm going to win” Cordelia looks Buffy up and down “This is starting to be sad”.

“Sorry, Cordy, but you have no idea who you're messing with” Buffy retorts as Cordelia lets out a scoff “What? The Slayer?” again I have to shush Beck when he asks what she means, if these two don't shut up he's going to find out.

“I'm not talking about the Slayer. I'm talking about Buffy. You've awakened the Prom Queen within. And that crown is going to be mine” I sighed as the two girls glared at each other “are you really going to do this?”.

Buffy turned to me and put her hands on her hips “Stay out of it Nikki, it's not like you know anything about being Prom Queen” I frown at my sister offended “You didn't win anything at Hemery”.

Having enough at Buffy's bitchy tone I stood up and smirked at her “Really? Then I guess I'll just have to show you then” Buffy looked at me worried as did Cordelia “What?” they called in unison.

Standing up on our lunch table I clapped my hands “Attention everyone, you're all looking at your newest Prom Queen candidate. Vote for me, if you want someone normal and like totally not vapid” I say in a valley girl voice before jumping off the table and glaring at the girls as the other students clapped “Game on”.

* * *

Willow and Xander are stood in her room trying to find Willow the perfect outfit for the dance, music is quietly playing on the radio as the two friends move around each other comfortably.

Willow is trying on an outfit, and steps out from behind her changing screen wearing a crimson blouse over a white satin slip dress “What do you think of this?” she questions unsure of herself.

Xander glances over at her as he tucks his white, long-sleeve dress shirt into his tuxedo pants, his bow tie hangs around his collar, still untied “Nice” he shrugs with a smile as he goes back to tucking in his shirt.

“It's my first big dance, you know?” Willow exclaims as she unbuttons her blouse with a smile “Where there's a boy and a band... and not just me alone in my room pretending that there's a boy and a band”.

Willow picks up another outfit “I just want it to be...” She goes back behind the changing screen as Xander steps over to her dressing mirror to tie his bow tie “Special. That's why I spared no expense on the tux”

“The tux? I thought you, uh, borrowed it from your cousin Rigby” Willow questions from behind the screen as Xander struggles with his tie “Expense to my pride, Will. They're our only relations with money, and they shun us... as they should”.

Willow steps out from behind the screen again, this time wearing a black top embroidered with several randomly placed small sunflowers and a smiling sun over a full-length black skirt with a floral print “What do you think about this?”

Xander looks at her once again “Nice” Willow huffs at the just 'nice' she wanted something that would as Nikki had put it, make her man drool although now she was trying to beat Buffy and Cordelia at their own game she couldn't help her with a dress.

Xander turns his attention back on his tie, Willow smiles seeing him struggle with it and comes over to him, raising her hands along the way to reach for the tie. Xander lets go of the tie, and she starts to tie it.

She looks up at him and gives him a little smile “What?” Xander questions as Willow's smile doesn't waver “I was just... Remember the eighth-grade cotillion?” she giggled feeling happy at the memory “You had that clip-on?”

“Hey, I was pretty stylin' with a clip-on” Xander exclaims as Willow just nods “And now here we are, and it's... Homecoming” she says as she concentrates on the tie “Yeah, we should face it, Will” Willow looks up at Xander confused.

“You and I are gonna be in neighboring rest homes while I come over so you can adjust my, um...” Xander doesn't really know how to finish that sentence as Willow raises her eyebrows at him “My, uh... Well, I can't think of anything that's not really gross”.

Willow is finished with the tie and smiles at him, she pats the tie and then goes back behind the screen to try on yet another outfit. Xander pulls on his vest “So, uh... you and Oz” he starts tentatively “How do I put this?”.

He begins to button the vest “Are we on first, second, or, uh... ye gods?” Xander continues to do up his vest waiting for Willow's answer like it was juicy gossip “That's none of your business, Alexander Harris” Willow calls back as her shadow on the screen shows her adjusting the shoulder straps of the dress she's putting on.

Xander smiles and almost makes a squealing noise “Ooo, rounding second” he reaches for his jacket as Willow lets out a huff “You don't know that. What about you and Cordelia?” Xander pulls on the tuxedo jacket “Oh, a gentleman never talks about his conquests”.

“Oh, yeah?” Willow begins as she steps out from behind the screen “Well, since when did you become a...” she stops dead as they both see each other, she is wearing an elegant black, sleeveless, full-length dress and Xander is looking dapper in his tuxedo.

They don't say anything for a long moment but just look upon each other, Willow finally breaks the silence to finish her sentence “...gentleman?” she smiles and giggles as she looks down at her dress, then back up at him and shrugs “Uh, I know. 'Nice.'”

“I was gonna go with 'gorgeous'” Xander corrects as he steps toward her as Willow smiles widely “Really?” she steps toward him too “You, too. I-in a guy way” Xander smiles back and draws a breath “Oz is very lucky”.

Willow smiles softly “So is Cordelia... i-in a girl way” suddenly Willow looks very worried “I don't know if I can dance in this. I don't know if I can dance!” Xander lets out a small laugh “Come on. Piece of cake”.

He steps up to her and offers his hands to dance “Here” They take a few seconds to get positioned for a traditional slow waltz, and then start to dance “Well, that seems to, um...” Xander looks down at their feet as they sway back and forth for a little while.

Willow looks up at him but tries not to look like she is “Yeah. This shouldn't be a... problem” they both look at each other “No” They slowly inch closer to each other “No problem” He slowly leans his head down to her, and she responds by angling hers up to him.

They are soon very close and kiss gently. The kiss goes on for several seconds before they realize what they are doing and quickly jump apart, Xander points at Willow “That didn't just happen!”

“No!” Willow gestures nervously “I mean, it did, but it didn't!” Xander nods quickly as they both began to backtrack “Because I respect you. And Oz. And I would never...” Willow furrows her brow “I would never, either! I-it must be the clothes. I-it's a fluke”.

“It's a clothes fluke, that's what it is. And there'll be no more fluking” Xander exclaims pointing between them as Willow nods in agreement “Not ever” They step closer again, and are about to kiss when they jump apart again.

“We gotta get out of these clothes!” Xander calls gesture to his suit “Right now!” Willow states before they both quickly realize the implication of what they just said, and get all flustered and gesture wildly.

“Oh, I didn't mean...” Xander tries to explain as they become more jittery than before “I didn't... me, either!” Willow says as rushes back behind her screen as Xander hastens the other way.

* * *

 

Sharpening my Slaying tools I looked over to Faith who was laying on my bed giving me a smirk “So you're running for homecoming Queen” I rolled my eyes at her knowing tone “Yes. I'm running for Queen” I grumbled sitting down on my desk chair with an annoyed pout.

“I thought you hated all those girly things?” Faith questioned with a raised brow “I do but Buffy thinks I can't do it so now I'm going to teach her a lesson” I told Faith who grinned at me “Well I'm with you sista”.

I let out a laugh as I spun my butterfly knife around “What's with you and B going together?” I questioned as Faith shrugged “You're going with your man and I wanna have some fun” I grinned at her “and you think my stuck-up sister is going to be fun?”.

“Well she's no you but I might be able to persuade her” Faith mused as I laughed “I believe it when I see it” sitting next to my newest friend I handed her a newly sharp stake as she stared at me confused “So what happened between you and B anyway, it's like a taboo to ask about it”.

Letting out a small sigh I turned my head to see her brown eyes trained on me and for some reason I felt like I couldn't look away “it's complicated” I grunted as I began to pick my nails with my knife “Life's complicated” Faith stated and I knew she could see through my bullshit unlike my friends and family.

“Her ex-honey tortured Giles and me when he lost his soul. He also tried to turn me into a vampire” I told her hoping she'd believe the short version I had been telling Buffy and my mom “Angel right?” Faith questioned as I shivered just hearing his name.

A moment passed as I felt Faith just watching me silently but I couldn't meet her gaze it always felt like she could read me better than Buffy could “that's not it though, is it?” I looked up at her but didn't say anything.

“I haven't known you guys long but I know shit like that wouldn't make you like this because you're stronger than that” Faith explained softly, more caring than I think she realized she knew she could be.

“and I'm guessing it's something you haven't told B.. so I won't tell.. promise” glancing at her warily she held out her pinky finger making me smile “He tried to rape me”I whispered feeling disgusted with myself, feeling the same weakness I felt when his hands were touching me.

Feeling Faith's finger interlock with mine I looked up at her face which held many emotions, the only ones I could distinguish were anger and protectiveness but thankfully there was no pity in sight, I had enough of the gang pitying me.

“I'm not gonna lie and say it'll be ok because it won't be for a really long time, trust me, but I'll make sure you get through it” Faith promises as I unlink our pinky's and hold her hand glad I finally have someone that doesn't look at me like I'm going to break or go insane.

“How do you know it'll get better” I question knowing how angry and disgusted I feel all the time and I don't think it'll ever change “I'm a runaway who stayed in seedy motels all my life” she answered simply and I understood.

Silence overtook the two of us but it wasn't a bad silence, it was a silence that brought the two of us closer than before, we had more than just being the Slayer to bond over “right, so what are you wearing to the dance?” I questioned pulling away from Faith who just shrugged at me and gestured to her leather pants.

“you have to wear a dress Faith” I laughed as I opened my closet door “Wait really?” I heard Faith question as I walked into my closet “Well shit Puddin', I don't have nice clothes” I smirked at Faith's nickname for me, it was something she started calling me when I told her about my love for comic books but mostly Harley Quinn and the Joker.

Pulling one of my dress from my closet I threw it over to Faith as she looked at it impressed “Nice, thanks” it was a simple black strappy dress, I knew it was more Faith's style than the dress I had bought myself for the dance.

I watched as Faith looked over the dress and pulled it against herself like she'd never had a dress before “looks awesome” I told her as she grinned at me before throwing the dress on the bed “So let's talk winning the crown strategies”.

After spending the rest of the night thinking up ways I could crush my sister and Cordelia we had a few notes and plans on what to do “maybe we can get Willow to do something smart on the computer” Faith wondered as I nodded feeling tired.

“Right good idea” I mumbled rubbing my eyes and looking out the window it was Buffy's night on patrol “wanna stay over?” I questioned closing the curtains turning to the brunette behind me who nodded at my request.

Picking up some shorts and a spaghetti top I walked away to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth thinking about how Faith hadn't made me feel ashamed of myself when I told her what happened with Angelus, spitting out the toothpaste I looked up into the mirror and gave myself a small reassuring nod.

Walking back into my room I looked over to Faith and let out a small laugh when I saw her already asleep drooling on her hand that was tucked under head, my laugh soon stopped when I pushed the covers away suddenly remembering Faith sleeps naked “Why am I friends with you” I muttered with a small laugh as I climbed in next to her.

* * *

 

Reaching the doors to Sunnydale High I let out a small huff trying to remind myself not to be... well myself, I had to smile and be social or else I was never going to get people's vote to be the queen.

“Why are you doing this to yourself” Beck asked as he put his arm around me “you're a queen in my eyes but I didn't think you'd want to be..” he pointed to a board which held four posters on, my competition “Queen...” he finished in a teasing tone.

“I don't want to be that Queen like all 'look at me, look at me'” I mocked passing a few students “but we need better Queens than Cordy and who will only think of themselves,” I told him as he looked at me with a big smile showing his dimples.

“Well you've got my vote and the guys said they'd vote for you too. I don't think any of them have ever voted before” he said with a laugh as I hugged myself into him “ooh so I've got the stoners, loners and the amazingly mysterious Australian hottie's votes” I joked as Beck growled and kissed my neck.

“Mr. Macher if you would unstick yourself from Miss. Summers' neck I would appreciate it” I groaned hearing Snyder's voice drone from behind me “Sorry Principal Snyder” Beck apologized as Snyder just looked at the two of us before staking off.

“Wow that stick must be really far up his ass” I commented hearing Beck laugh behind me “I'm going to the library, I'll see you later” Beck nodded and pulled me in for another kiss before walking away to his friends.

Smiling to myself I turned around and jumped seeing a girl stood behind me “Nikki Summers” she greeted as I gave her a small smile “well you know my name...” I said as she looked down at her shoes shyly.

“Oh, I'm Maria Cross” smiling at the smaller girl I couldn't help but think of Willow when I looked at Maria “I just want you to know you've already got my vote, I know people say you've got some anger problems....” I nodded to myself and clicked my tongue.

“But I don't think you're a bad person, and you're always sticking up for people when Cordy or Harmony pick on us” Maria finished as I swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in my throat.

“wow, thanks Maria, that means a lot to me,” I told her as she blushed a little “I'll see you around?” Maria nodded quickly and walked over to a group of... well nerdy looking student and they all gave me a small wave.

Waving back I laughed to myself as Cordy started to walk beside me “huh, who would've thought you'd get the nerds” she commented without malice “Honestly Cordy I didn't think I get any votes” I admitted as she turned to look at me in surprise “then why are you doing this?”.

Looking through the library window I saw Buffy talking to the others point to a board behind her “Buffy's always been the best at everything, she's the queen and now it's my chance to dethrone her” I answered pushing through the doors with Cordy following behind me.

“Uh, Cordelia, Nikki... Okay, look. I know this is a little awkward, but I don't see any reason why we all can't get along during this campaign time” Buffy tries to explain but my eyes were scanning over the board that had mine, Cordelia's and the other girls faces stuck to it.

“I mean, we're... almost friends,” Buffy says then turns to me “Twin sisters... and... we are all riding together in the limo” I just watched my sister become jittery and realized she felt threatened by her competition.

“Yeah, great. Willow, how's that database coming?” Cordelia asks as Willow looks down in shame “Uh, it's... just about done” she sighs and I notice she looks guilty “Xander?” Cordy questions.

Xander whips his head around to face her “I got your new flyers” he smiles thinly like he was ashamed of himself “Let's get cracking” I noticed Buffy gives them all a betrayed look.

Xander slips off of the table and looks at my sister “She's my girlfriend” he rushed out as he goes to Cordelia, Willow slides off of the table also and gestures a lot when she looks at Buffy on her way to join Xander and Cordelia “It's just that... she needs it so much more than you do”.

I frown at my friends not because I felt betrayed by them but because they are obviously helping Cordelia for a reason, Oz gets off of the table also, and stops by Buffy on his way after Willow, pointing back and forth between Willow and himself “As Willow goes, so goes my nation”

He goes over to stand with the others, who are hanging their heads in shame and embarrassment behind Cordelia who by contrast, is standing proudly, facing Buffy with her arms crossed “Thanks for what you said, Buffy. I think we're getting along great. Don't you?”

Buffy takes it silently with a look of betrayal and abandonment evident on her face as Cordelia turns and heads out of the library “huh” I click my tongue as the others each look back with a quick apologetic glance and follow her out.

* * *

 

Posting a few more flyers with my face on around the school I began to hand out lollipops my mom had helped me make and design with a tag saying 'Don't be a sucker, vote Nikki Summers as Homecoming Queen'.

The last few days had been hectic with Cordelia and Buffy going head to head over things like Buffy sticking her poster over Cordy's, Cordelia getting people to throw away Buffy's muffins for one of her homemade baskets.

Luckily for me, Buffy and Cordy had been so focused on besting each other that they hadn't taken me seriously as a threat meaning I was able to get votes from right under their noses.

People were starting to get weary of the war brewing between Buffy and Cordy that they were avoiding them, their loss was my gain. Faith was helping me in her own unique way, she had been giving the other candidates posters mustaches and generally bigging me up to people.

Looking around I noticed Willow talking to Buffy and she looked shaky, almost like she had been downing energy drinks all night, she was nervous about something. When Buffy walked off I watched as Xander quickly stepped up to Willow and the two began to talk which was would be normal if they didn't look so suspicious.

Walking up to my two friends I plastered a smile on my face “Hey guys!” I called making them jump as they hadn't noticed my presence and began to greet me shakily “Hey Nikkster... what's up” Xander said with a fake laugh.

Glancing between the two I definitely knew there was something going on, grabbing each of their arms I dragged them to an empty classroom as they tried to protest and get away from my vice grip.

Throwing them into the room I shut the door behind me, crossing my arms as I turned to face them as they grew even more nervous “What did you do?” I questioned as Willow's eyes popped open “What... why would we have done something?”.

“You're jumpy, nervous and Xander can't look Buffy or me in the eye” I replied as Xander again didn't meet my eye “Plus you're working for Cordy” I added as Willow looked at Xander “So either she has something on you or you know something she shouldn't”.

Willow and Xander looked at their feet sheepishly making me sigh “listen, I know you two you wouldn't do anything to hurt someone on purpose so whatever it is you know or have done just work it out before someone does get hurt”.

“what do you want?” Willow sighed looking at me sadly as I frowned “What do you mean?” I asked wondering what she was talking about “Well technically in one way or another we are being used to help with Buffy and Cordelia's campaign so what do you want us to do for you” Willow explained and I understood that my sister had somehow forced Willow to do something for her.

“I don't want anything Will, I just want you two to stop being idiots. I'm not the type to use my friends for personal gain” I told her as I opened the classroom door and walked out seeing Jonathan being tripped up by a jock.

Catching him at the last minute I stood him upright with a heavy sigh “You okay?” I wondered as he stared at me in shock as he nodded slowly “Good, take care Jonathan” I told him as I walked off to find out what my sister had said to Willow.

* * *

 

Smoothing down the front of my blue sparkly dress I smiled at myself, I was getting dressed at Faith's motel as per the plan, Willow called me earlier and told me that they were going to leave Cordy and Buffy to go in the limo together so they could kiss and make up.

Popping open my tube of lipstick I coated my lips in a red hue “Hey can I borrow that” turning around I saw Faith coming out of the bathroom putting a choker on “You look great Faith” I exclaimed handing her the lipstick.

“Thanks Puddin' you look hot” I grinned at the compliment as we both looked into the mirror hung on the wall “so why are we not in the limo again?” Faith questioned as I fixed my makeup.

“Willow and Xander think if they leave Cordy and Buffy alone in the limo they'll somehow magically fix all their problems with each other” I commented with a laugh “like that's gonna happen”.

Hearing a knock on Faith's door I smiled knowing who it was “well hello hottie” Faith greeted Beck as he gave her a humored smile “Faith” I warned with a smirk as she grinned at me.

“Wow, Nikki you look gorgeous” Beck gushed as I twirled for him until he pulled me into his arms for a kiss “Here” he mumbled holding out two corsages and putting the lily on my wrist.

“Thank you” I whispered kissing him again before taking the red rose corsage and turning to Faith who had been oddly silent since Beck's arrival “Faith Lehane, will you be my homecoming date,” I asked her with a grin knowing Buffy had ditched her at the last minute.

Faith let out a small laughed as she held out her wrist rolling her eyes as I slipped the rose over her hand “Beck take our picture” I asked as I gave him my camera and stood with Faith in a prom pose as we tried not to laugh.

Taking a few more pictures with both Beck and Faith I grinned having fun, putting away my camera I nodded at Beck who held out his elbows “Ladies I'd be honored to escort you to the homecoming dance”.

Grinning at Faith we both grabbed an elbow as we walked out to Beck's van which had been decked out with lights and other things “I just wanted it to be a good night for you, no matter the outcome” Beck whispered to me after Faith had gotten into the van.

“Thank you” I whispered against Beck's lips and marveled at how much I cared for him and how I'd made the right decision to start dating him especially after what had happened with Angelus.

* * *

 

Buffy walks out of her house wearing a bright red spaghetti strap evening gown with matching shoes and purse. She comes down the steps from the porch and walks over to the limousine waiting for her in the driveway.

The driver holds open the door for her, and she gets in, she looks next to her and finds Cordelia sitting there wearing a green satin dress with a corsage on her wrist “What's going on here?” Buffy questioned Cordelia confused, where was her sister.

Cordelia hands her the card she found in the limo when she was picked up, Buffy opens it and reads.

_Dear Cordelia and Buffy,_   
_We won't be riding to the dance with you._   
_We want you to work out your problems_   
_because our friendships are more important_   
_than who wins Homecoming Queen._   
_Your friends._   
_P.S. The limo was not cheap. Work it out._   
_P.P.S I'm taking Faith as my date as you_   
_let her down, what a shocker B._

She folds the card closed and sets it down knowing that last line was from her sister and felt a little guilty for shunning Faith “Well...” Buffy starts as she looks around and notices the corsage waiting for her in a small box between them “They bought us corsages?”.

Cordelia just nods looking annoyed that Buffy would dare talk to her “I took the orchid” Buffy rolls her eyes “Okay” The driver gets in and starts the engine, the limousine drives along at a steady speed “I don't see what the big deal is” Cordelia enunciates as Buffy huffs at the brunette “I'm not making a big deal. You wanted the orchid, you got the orchid”.

“It goes with my complexion better” Cordy declared as the driver pulls the limo to the side of the road, Buffy side eyes Cordelia “It does have that sallow tint,” She notices the car stopping “Finally we're here”

They hear the driver's door slam and his footsteps as he runs off. Buffy gives Cordelia a concerned look as she opens her door and gets out of the car. Cordelia gets out behind her and swings the door shut.

They look around, surprised to find themselves in the middle of the woods “What is this?” Cordelia questions quietly looking around thinking her friends were up to something “Okay, guys, we've had enough of your stupid little game!”.

Buffy notices a VCR and a monitor waiting for them on a rock “What's massively wrong with this picture?” The two walk up to it carefully, a sign on the VCR says "Press Play", which Buffy does and her eyes widen seeing a vampire appear on the screen

_“Hello, ladies. Welcome to SlayerFest '98”._

* * *

  
Dancing with Beck I notice Xander and Willow standing beside each other but almost 3 foot apart, Willow has her hands folded in front of her and looks sad as she watches Oz play whilst Xander is idly nibbling on a finger sandwich looking down at the floor, seemingly deep in thought.

“I'll be back,” I told Beck as I walked towards the pair noticing Faith coming up behind them “What are you two so mopey about?” she questions them as they notice the two of us.

Xander looks at us nervously “Oh, we're not mopey. We're groovin” he says as he points at the stage “On Oz's band. He's a great guy, Oz” Xander explains as Willow nods quickly “He wrote this song for me”.

Faith glances around and sees Scott behind her dancing with a girl before she looks back at me “What a sleazebag!” she huffs and walks off as Xander and Willow look at me questioningly “she has a problem with men” I tell them before following the brunette.

Faith moves around the table over to Scott who is dancing slow and close with his date, Faith touches the couple, and they pull apart “Scott? There you are, honey!” she exclaims as I laugh behind my hand.

“Hey, good news. The doctor says that the itching and the swelling and the burning should clear up” Faith puts her hands on Scott's chest “but we gotta keep using the ointment”.

Scott's date isn't sure what to make of that, Faith turns to her and touches her on the shoulder “Hi” She turns back to Scott, grabs him by the lapels and gives him a little pull. She lets go of him and Scott turns back to his date, thoroughly embarrassed “Uh...”.

Faith links her arm with mine as we both let out a laugh as Scott's date pushes him away and storms off with him following her like a puppy “That was so good” I confessed as Faith just grinned at me as she walked off to dance with some guy.

Suddenly my smile dropped and my skin started to feel prickly, looking around I noticed two certain people were missing and hoped they hadn't killed each other in the limo ride over.

Noticing Giles' absence too I left the gym and walked over to the library where I found the place a mess and the two missing girls looking like they had been to hell and back “What the?” I questioned as Giles, Buffy and Cordelia looked over at me.

“Good you're here” Buffy started until Cordelia cut in “Oh my god Nikki, I love your dress” I just nodded at Cordy and turn my attention back onto my sister “What's going on”.

“Slayerfest, look how can we get rid of these transmitters” Buffy questioned as I took the corsage out of her hand “Slayerfest?” I asked as Buffy explained to me about what happened and now there were only two guys left out there with guns.

Thinking of a plan I turned to Giles “I need some wet toilet paper” I heard Cordy scoff behind me “Yeah! That'll help” she said sarcastically as I wrapped the transmitters into the wet paper.

Nodding to Buffy she seemed to understand what I was getting at, as she tried to take it away from me I pushed her hand away “I can do this just...” looking at the two tired girls I smiled “rest, I got this”.

Running across the hall I wince when I hear gunfire around me as the shoots tried to kill me, ducking into a classroom I quickly hid behind a bookcase waiting for the trackers to follow me, the hunters were about to become the hunted.

Looking around the bookcase I see one of the assassins scans around in the dark room, but he obviously can't see me. The assassin keeps scanning as he walks through the room.

Rising up from behind a low bookcase I throw the wad of wet toilet paper with the transmitters and hits the assassin on his back. He spins around to look what direction he was hit from but I had already ducked back down.

Quickly gunfire starts to shoot through the wall as the assassin turns toward the fire and shoots back. The gunfire through the wall until it suddenly stops and everything goes quiet again.

Getting back up I see the assassin laying on the floor dead, walking out of the classroom I see the other assassin on the floor in the hallway also very dead “wow that worked out better than I thought”.

Opening the doors to the library I peeked my head in “Everyone okay in here?” I question as the three of them nod at me “So are we ready for homecoming now?” I joked as they all smiled at me “Thanks Nikki” Buffy nodded at me as I just smiled “it's what I do, the chosen few” I mumbled as both Buffy and Cordelia nod knowingly.

* * *

  
Buffy, Cordelia and I work our way through the crowd who have gathered at the stage to hear who the Homecoming Queen is, I smile seeing Cordy and Buffy are still dirty and disheveled from their ordeal.

“I'm gonna go with mud wrestling” Oz commented when he noticed us beside him “Oh, God! What did you two do to each other?” Xander questioned as he looked at them in shock “Long story” Buffy mumbled waving him off.

“They got hunted,” I said aloud as Buffy eyed me “Apparently not that long” I pouted thinking about the Slayerfest “it's so not fair, if you two hadn't been fighting I would have been in that limo” everyone looks at me in disbelief as I cross my arms.

A drum roll gets our attention “In this envelope, I hold the name of this year's Homecoming Queen” Devon says as he gets a few calls from the crowd, I notice Beck giving me a thumbs up and I also saw Faith giving me a small nod.

Before opening the envelope Devon makes another announcement about an after-party “After all that we've been through tonight, this whole who-gets-to-be-queen capade seems pretty...” Cordelia starts looking at Buffy and me “Damn important” Buffy finishes.

“Oh, yeah” I agree as the girls looked at me “I know you didn't take me seriously in this and it's okay, I didn't either,” I told them as they each took one of my hands “And the winner is...”

Devon opens the envelope and checks the name, I felt both Buffy and Cordy squeezing my hand in anticipation “The winner is... Nikki Summers!” feeling the air leave my body I stood frozen, I had won.

I looked at my sister and Cordelia who both smiled at me softly “Go get the crown” Cordelia says with a smile as Buffy agrees with her “You deserve it” slowly walking to the stage I smile when the crown is placed on my head.

Hearing a shout from the crowd I let out a small a laugh “That's my girlfriend” Beck started to whistle as I saw him watching me proudly along with all my friends, the other candidates Holly Charleston and Michelle Blake rolled their eyes and pushed their way out of the crowd.

Finally, I had proven myself to Buffy who was watching me with pride written all over her face, I was no longer her twin who she walked over, I was now a formidable friend and sometime foe. Fake curtsying to the crowd I gave a smirk “ _You love me, you really love me_!”.

* * *

So the ending on this episode was changed so that Nikki won Homecoming Queen, did you all like that ending or hated that Nikki won? Hope you all liked the Nikki centered chapter and that it shows you more about Nikki's thoughts and feelings, how she interacts with Faith and her beau, Beck.

**Q: Who do you think is older Faith or Buffy?**

**A: This has always been a debate online and I always felt like Faith was older, that may be because her character had been through a lot and she was more street smart than Buffy but I always got the feeling she was a little older.**


	6. Band Candy

Spinning around with a blindfold on I huffed feeling Giles' hands leave my shoulders “one, two, three, four” I counted listening out for the telltale sounds of Giles' shoes scuffing around “five” I called throwing the ball and grinning when I heard a thud followed by a groan.

Pulling the blindfold up a little I smiled noticed Giles' glasses askew “right, you seem to know what you're doing” I giggled at Giles' tone as I placed the blindfold back down knowing our training session wasn't over.

“Is Buffy coming?” I asked Giles hearing him walk off “Uh, yes, she should be here soon” I nodded at his answer waiting for his next instructions “Now I want you to do something different,” he said as I frowned “different?”.

“Yes, this time I will throw the ball” Giles explained as I nodded a little confused “and you want to test my catching skills?” I questioned sarcastically feeling Giles circling me like a predator waiting to pounce “No, I want you to deflect it”.

“seems simple enough” I interrupted shrugging this was nothing compared to our other training “using your telekinesis” my head shot up, and I ripped the blindfold off “no way” I growled turning to find had stopped behind me “I can't”.

“You're not using your gift enough and after what happened with..” I growled again knowing what Giles was about to say “You're losing control of your power” I clenched my jaw knowing it was true after what happened with Angelus my 'gift' seemed to have more power over me than I do of it.

“Who told you” I questioned watching as he pushed his glasses back up holding the dodgeball under his arm “Faith” he told me honestly and I huffed out a laugh “she was just thinking about you” Giles explained as I put my hands on my hips “She's always thinking about me”.

A quietness overtook the two of us and I looked up at my mentor sadly “What if I hurt you” Giles' eyes softened a bit as he heard my whisper “I have a lot of faith in you Nicola” nodding I tied the blindfold back on with shaky hands.

“Remember your breathing” Giles added as I heard him circle around again, closing my eyes under the blindfold I began to use the breathing technique Giles had shown me for my panic attacks. In and out, slowly, in and out.

Rubbing my thumb again my finger I felt the static of my Slayer senses tingle throughout my body as my ears tuned into Giles' footsteps, his steady breathing and the faint sound of his pocket watch ticking but what I was trying to tune into was my Slayer Instincts, they were like an alarm clock that rang throughout our bodies when danger approaches.

Feeling the ball coming to me I suddenly started to flail as fear constricted me instead of the confidence I used to feel when I finally had got used to me power “damn it” I mumbled when I felt rubber bouncing off my head.

Lifting up the blindfold I looked at Giles silently as he watched me almost like a confused father would do when his child falls after learning how to walk “Nikki” he started but I had enough “I can't do it okay!” I shouted feeling trapped as my gaze landed on the floor.

“I can't do it... I'll just hurt you.... my powers are out of wack and no good” looking back into Giles' eyes my breath hitched as I refused to cry “I'm no good” I tensed when Giles pulled me into his chest like he had done so many times before.

“There is nothing in this world that could ever make me believe that” he murmured to me as I held onto his jacket “we just need to find the trigger for your power” pulling back I looked up at my watcher “Trigger?” I questioned as he nodded cleaning his glasses.

“As far as I've read Powers like yours all have a trigger for them to work. Be it a word, emotion or even gesture” I nodded following along with Giles' explanation “now we know you can use your telekinesis through both your eyes and uh your hands”.

“So it's an emotion?” I questioned as Giles walked into his office and came back out with an old book in his hands “I've been researching about telekinesis since, well, you came into your power” feeling a smile pull on my lips I looked at Giles gratefully.

“here, I think you could benefit from reading it too, I uh took the liberty of marking the important things,” Giles said as he pushed up his glasses and stuttering a little “Thanks G” I whispered appreciatively as the library doors opened.

“What's going on?” Buffy questioned as she walked over to us looking confused “Nothing” I quipped throwing Giles the blindfold as I tucked the book into my bag “Your turn B” Giles tied the blindfold tightly around Buffy's head “Ow!”

“Sorry” Giles apologized as Buffy huffed “Why do I put up with this?” I smirked knowing I questioned the same thing “Because it is your destiny...” Giles answered sending me a look as he walks around her “ and because I just bought twenty 'cocorific' candy bars from you and Nicola” I let out a laugh as he hands her the dodgeball.

“Okay, you're just doing this to take funny pictures of me,” Buffy said as she twirled the ball in her hands as I had done minutes earlier “As I told Nicola I'm doing it to test your awareness of an opponent's location during a fight in total darkness. Now, wait five seconds and then throw the ball at me”.

He silently backtracks and takes several steps away from her toward the cage “You ran out of new training ideas about a week ago, huh? Okay. Five, four, three, two, one” She turns around and faces the door to Giles' office. He smiles, thinking she's completely clueless as to where he is.

Buffy throws the ball it hits the wall high above the checkout counter and bounces off “It's not that simple, is it...” Giles begins as I smirk knowing exactly what she had done, the ball bumps him in the side of the head “Ow. Ahem. Yes, well, very good”.

Buffy takes off the blindfold and throws it to me “Thanks!” she calls as she heads out of the library “W-w-w-where are you going? We have to patrol!” Giles queries as I put my hands up in question as Buffy stops and faces us “I can't. Moms in hyperdrive. She wants me home tonight. I told you”.

She starts out again before looking at me with a look I could place “Uh mom said you're fine to stay out” I nodded slowly wondering why she was acting weird, mom had loosened the leash with me slightly but if Buffy was wanted home earlier usually I was ordered to do the same.

“But, I...” Giles tried to get Buffy's attention as she stops by the door “I know, I know. She's out of control. Enjoy the candy!” she called blowing a kiss at me over her shoulder as she leaves, I look at the swinging library door for a moment, considering my sister's odd behavior.

“That was weird, right?” I questioned my mentor as he eyed the door too “Yes, strange” he agreed turning to me with a pondering look on his face “Me thinks a certain Slayer is up to no good” I told him shaking my head as Giles just looks at me.

* * *

 

A shirtless Angel is stood in his mansion practicing T'ai Chi. He brings his arms down together in front of him and then over to his right. As he brings his left arm up across his abdomen, he crosses his right arm over his left.

He draws his arms together again, this time crossing his left arm over his right and repeats a mirror image of his last move, never stopping his motion, he brings both hands to his waist, palms facing forward, and slowly raises his right arm and sweeps it across in front of himself, palm down, while he sweeps his left arm across below his right, palm up.

Buffy walks into the doorway and stops just to watch him, amazed at the fluidity and smoothness of his motions, Angel doesn't notice her and continues his exercises. He has his arms extended, his left hand angled up sharply from his forearm, and his right hand clasping the heel of his left.

He brings them around in a broad sweeping motion toward Buffy and then raises them, separates them and spreads them apart with his palms facing away from him. He raises his head as he does so and sees Buffy standing there watching him “Buffy”.

She looks down briefly, slightly embarrassed to be caught watching him like that, and then looks up at him again with a little smile on her lips “I didn't know you could do that” He gives her the briefest glimpse of a small smile as he tries to straighten himself up from his slightly bent stance “I-I'm feeling better”

He can't maintain his posture, and bends back over, supporting himself with his right hand on his knee. Buffy rushes to his aid “Angel...” she whispers as she gets under his left arm and helps him stand up straight “Let's... get you inside”

They slowly make their way back into the mansion “It's late. How'd you get away?” Angel questions as they walk past the fireplace where a steady fire was crackling “Aw, it was easy. Started a fire in the prison laundry room. Rode out in the garbage truck”.

They stop and Angel faces Buffy, not sure what to make of that “Oh” He sits on the edge of the couch “I'm joking” Buffy raises her right hand and waves it “No garbage. Smell me” She steps closer to him, but stops Angel just looks up at her.

She lowers her arm and sighs as she puts a bag down next to him and steps over to an adjacent couch and sits also, but very stiffly as a little guilt hits her knowing she had to lie to her sister to be here with the man that hurt her so badly.

“How is, uh... Scott?” Buffy head shoots up at the question “Scott?” she smiles weakly and looks down “Oh, um... boyfriend Scott. Uh... A-actually, he's not...” she exhales and nods “He's fine” Angel gives her a little nod as he plays with his hands before looking up again his face softening “and  _Nikki_?”.

Buffy's breath hitches this is a topic they've not discussed since Angel had been back and Buffy didn't quite know how to tackle it “She's okay” A minute silence develops before Buffy indicates the bag she left next to him “Uh, that's for you”.

Angel reaches for it thankfully off the subject of her sister “Uh... I-it's fresh from the butcher” she tells him awkwardly as he nods in reply “Thanks” He reaches in and takes out a quart-sized plastic tub of blood he gives it a brief look, then slips it back into the bag and sets it aside.

Buffy looks away shyly, knowing he doesn't want to eat in front of her “You're being careful, right?” Buffy looks up surprised “With Scott?” Angel just stares at her unmoving “The slaying” Buffy smiles and exhales “Oh. Uh... Yeah. Of course. Full of carefulness”.

“and your sister?” Angel once again tries to question about Nikki and Buffy can feel the guilt pouring from Angel “She's...” Buffy wanted to say reckless, out of control or even impetuous but all she could think of was what her sister is “Nikki”

Angel looks down knowingly “I worry about you, both of you” he finishes looking back at Buffy as she pauses briefly knowing how bad this could hurt her sister if she ever found out “I worry about you”.

Angel stares down again for a moment, stroking the cushions “I'm getting stronger” Buffy gives him a little smile “Yeah, pretty soon, you won't even need me” Angel nods a little “That'll be better” Buffy feels a pang of pain go through her as she's unsure how to take Angel's words “Yeah”.

* * *

 

Sitting on the stairs I knew Buffy was in for it when she got home, she was lying to both mom and Giles about where she was going, I had been interrogated by my mom as soon as Giles came over to talk to mom about sorting out our schedules.

But even I couldn't tell them why Buffy had been lying to them of her whereabouts, I couldn't figure out where she was sneaking off to at least when I was sneaking off to meet Beck I was honest about it, which I guess doesn't really count as sneaking off.

Looking at mom I winced as she ripped open another bar of chocolate I had sold her “mom, might wanna take it easy on the...” seeing my mom's eyes bore into mine I quickly shut my mouth that was one fight I wasn't going to jump into.

Suddenly the door opens and Buffy walks in closing it behind her as she sets her books down on the table by the coat rack. She turns around and is startled by mom looking back at her “Hey! Uh, sorry I'm late. You know Giles. All slay, all the time” Buffy begins as mom moves to show me sitting behind her as Giles steps into view from the dining room with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face “Hello, Buffy”.

Buffy mouth opens and closes like a fish before she gestures into the living room “Do you guys wanna watch some television? I hear there's a very insightful Nightline on” I snort at her poor line as Mom huffs in anger “Buffy, you lied to us. And you made us into your alibis. That's... playing us against each other, and that's not fair”.

“I called Willow” Buffy is at a loss now and by the look of her, she knows it too “You also lied to her about your whereabouts. We were all concerned” Giles tells her as I raise my hand I the air “I'm not,” I say deadpan getting a look from everyone.

Mom unwraps another chocolate bar and holds it out to Giles to take a piece “Oh, thank you” he says as he breaks off a piece “Look, I'm sorry, but I had to...” Buffy starts as she turns around and walks into the living room. Mom and I follow her, and Giles also a few paces behind.

Leaning against the door frame “Were you at the Bronze? What was happening there that was so important?” Mom questions as Buffy stops letting out an exasperated sigh and turns to face mom “Bronze things. Things of Bronze”.

Mom continues to chew on a piece of her chocolate bar “You're acting really immature, Buffy” she tells my sister condescendingly as Giles interjects himself into the conversation “I know I'm not your parent, but I am responsible for you, both of you. I think your mum's right” he says as he sits on the couch armrest.

“Okay, fine. I'm acting like a child. Maybe that's because you're both treating me like a child” Buffy fights as mom looks at her hurt “Buffy!” my sister just shrugs looking unapologetic “You're both scheduling us twenty-four hours a day” she claims pointing between the two of us.

“Between the two of you, that's forty-eight hours. I just wanna be able to make a few decisions on my own” Buffy says with a sigh as mom scoffs “The last time you made a decision on your own, you split” my eyes widen in shock as mom pops another piece of candy.

“Yeah, and I took care of myself. I don't need this much active parenting” Buffy mumbles as mom laugh incredulous “You can't really be trying to use this summer as a reason you should be trusted” Buffy looks annoyed as mom calmly eats another piece of chocolate “You can't babysit me all the time. I need you to back off a little”.

Giles holds up his hand “Uh, alright, come on. Let's, let's not, uh, freak out” I grin at Giles' words “'Freak out'?” I repeat blinking slowly as he nods at me “Uh, I think you two should go to bed. Um, we're all tired”.

I jump away from the door frame annoyed “But I didn't do anything wrong today” I pouted as mom just sighs at me rolling her eyes, I look at Buffy who just looks at the two of them as though they're crazy, something I was beginning to wonder myself “Whatever, freaks”.

* * *

 

Tapping my foot against the table leg I frowned as I flipped my pen between my fingers, something wasn't right today everything just seemed off “What are you thinking about?” Beck questioned as he sat on top of the desk I was sitting at.

“just wondering where Perky is,” I said referring to the middle-aged detention teacher “probably at home writing some  _erotic_  pornography,” Beck said with a wide grin “Ew” I laughed leaning up to kiss him as he pulled me up close.

Hearing the door open I raised my eyebrow at Professor Stanford walked in eating a chocolate bar “Hey! We're all stuck here, okay? So now let's just sit quietly and, pretend we're reading something” my eyebrows shot up and I looked at Beck in shock.

“Where's Ms. Perky?” Beck questions at Stanford just shrugs and plops himself down at the desk in front of us and lifting his feet up onto the table “who cares, a few more minutes and then we're all outta here!”.

Looking at my boyfriend I let out a laugh as Stanford turns on the radio behind him and nods to the rock music that comes from the black box “what the hell?” I ask as Beck sits by my side “mid-life crisis?” he guesses as he pulls me into him again.

“Dude! Get a room!” Stanford calls out throwing a paper airplane at Beck who frowns “ok now I know something is up” I nod along with him until the bell rings to which Stanford lets out an excited yell charging from the room.

“That's more than a mid-life crisis” I say as Beck and I leave detention “That's more like a whole life crisis” I joke as Beck leans against a set of lockers pulling me with him “So you wanna come round later, we'll watch a movie?” he questions running his hands down my back.

“Is that what we're calling it now” I smirked putting my arms around his neck “hey I could have said wanna come round for a....”

“Nikki!” my sister's voice cut over Beck's who winked at me knowing I knew what he was going to say “Yes B,” I said with a sigh turning to see Buffy walking over to us “Giles didn't show up for study hall, I'm worried”.

I frowned it wasn't like Giles not to turn up for work “yeah, we should go see him” turning to Beck I gave him a quick kiss “I'll see you later” I told him with a meaningful look as Buffy and I began to walk to Giles' place.

Following Buffy, to Giles' door, I frown when she stops and peers in through the viewport “what are you doing?” I ask with a sigh before Buffy opens the door and lets us in, Giles is crouched by a cabinet where he keeps his vinyl record collection the sound of our entrance gets his attention, and he looks up “Buffy, Nikki”.

“Uh... sorry. I... I was just worried. You were a big not-there in study hall and after your lecture to me on not ducking out...” Buffy babbles looking confused “and what is my mother doing here?”

Giles steps over to mom who waves at us “We had an opportunity for, um, you might say, a summit meeting. It took priority over study hall. I called in” Giles explains to us with a mouth full of chocolate.

“We decided that you made a good point earlier, honey,” mom tells Buffy as she and Giles nod at us “I did. Yeah” Buffy agrees as I look at the two adults confused “she did? Which was...?”

“A-about us overscheduling you” Mom starts then looks to Giles for support “Pulling you both in two directions, uh, your home life and your duties as Slayers” the two of us nod probably with identical dumbfound expressions “Oh. That was a good point”.

“We're working out a coordinated schedule for you” mom informs us as Giles smiles widely “It'll be tight, but, uh, I think we can fit in all your responsibilities” I give them an uncertain smile “Sounds nice and...” Buffy says struggling for another word “structured” I offered with a tight smile.

“We've got more work to do here, girls. Why don't you give us a little more time?” Mom tells us as Giles gets up and walks over to the fireplace mantel to stare at a picture.

Mom reaches into her purse, pulls out her car keys and stands up “Um... Take the car, and, um, Mr. Giles can drive me home” she says as she holds out the keys “What?” Buffy smiles and shakes her head as I look at our mother wide-eyed “Excuse me, I meant what?!”.

“Keys. Take them” Mom says again as she jangles her car keys in front of us “You don't have to tell me twice. Well, actually, you did, but...” Buffy snatches the keys “bye!” she rushes out with me following her.

“Hey, I wanna drive!” I shouted from behind my sister as she holds the keys away from me “nuh uh, mom gave me the keys” Buffy said as I tried reaching for the keys “no she didn't you snatched them” I exclaimed as we fought with each other.

  
“Yeah well, I'm older!” Buffy called as she jangled the keys at me “that's bullshit!” I shouted noticing the looks the neighbors were giving me “Okay let's settle this” Buffy finalizes as she puts the keys on the car and holding out her hands.

  
Sighing to myself I adopted the same stance “Rock, Paper, Scissors. Shoot!” we both call out hammering out fist into our palms “Ha! Rock beats Scissors!” Buffy cheers as I frown at her rock “ _son of a bitch!_ ”.

Getting into the passenger seat of mom's car I pout as Buffy gets in behind the wheel “Do you even know how to drive?” I question as my sister slams her foot down on the peddle “Oh god, we're gonna die” I mumble to myself.

“I'm sorry we can't all be experienced drivers” Buffy sasses as I hold on the door handle “how come dad didn't get you a car after you passed the test?” my sister questioned as we drove down a familiar street.

I gave my sister a sheepish look “he caught me joyriding in the neighbors' car” Buffy turned to me and blinked slowly “She's 89 B, what does she need a car for?” I exclaimed as Buffy shook her head at me.

Stopping outside Willow's house Buffy pressed the horn and waved when our redheaded friend looked out of her window before gesturing for us to wait for her to come down “Willow's gonna have a heart attack with you driving” I told my sister dryly.

I smiled when Willow climbed into the backseat looking all excited until Buffy once again floored the car and we took off “Tell me again how it happened” Willow asks when Buffy explains how mom let us borrow her car.

“Told my mom I wanted to be treated more like a grownup, and voila:  _driviness_ ” Buffy grins as she takes a corner without slowing down, and skids around it. That shakes up Willow again and she begins to breathe nervously.

“Also, I think she wanted us otherwhere. Considering my mom and Giles are planning mine and Nikki's future, I think it's easier for them to live our lives if we're not actually there” Buffy tells Willow as I lean against the window watching the world go by “that and I'm pretty sure they're gonna have sex”.

Both girls look at me quickly and I just shrugged uncaring “mom and Giles! No way” Buffy exclaims as Willow continues her heavy nervous breathing in the back “Do you know that you have the parking brake on?” she asks Buffy who looks at me and I nod to the brake “Uh-huh”.

She releases the parking brake and the engine suddenly begins to rev much higher, as we accelerate more “Are, are you sure about the Bronze? I mean, the SATs are tomorrow” Willow questions sounding more nervous than before.

“I can study at the Bronze. A little dancing, a little cross-multiplying” Buffy smiles wickedly “You know what we need?” She reaches over, turns on the radio and begins to turn the station dial. In the process, she bends over too low to see over the dashboard.

“Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!” Willow screams out loud and I turn to see her holding on for dear life. While changing stations, Buffy doesn't realize that she is pulling on the steering wheel, and the car makes a wide left turn, but fortunately onto another road, and so doesn't hit anything.

* * *

 

Walking into the Bronze with Buffy and Willow the three of us looked around speechless, there was an unusual mix of people in the crowd tonight “Let's do the time warp again” Buffy exclaims as we walk through the mostly adult/old people crowd.

  
“Maybe there's a reunion in town or, or a Billy Joel tour or something” Willow shrugs as Ms. Barton walks past us “Ms. Barton?” Buffy questions as the elderly teacher stops to face us “Buffy? Whoa!” Ms. Barton says as if she's shocked to see  _us_  there.

“Are you okay, Ms. Barton?” Willow asks looking concerned as Ms. Barton smiles widely holding a blue solo cup “Oh, I'm cool, Willow” a look of realization passes over her “Willow... That's a tree. You're a tree!” she giggles as the three of us exchange a look.

“Yeah, uh, uh, are there any nachos in here, little tree?” Ms. Barton questions as my eyebrows shoot up in surprise “A-are you sure you don't need some fresh air, Ms. Barton?” Buffy suggests as the teacher laughs hysterically “Okay...” she sighs as she goes into the crowd.

“Hey, this is not normal” Willow stutters as Buffy gives her a look “Uh, w-well, maybe that goes without saying” Willow affirms as I look around the room in wonder “is it me or is everyone here a little stoned?”.

“Hey, gang!” a familiar voice shouts from behind us and an arm is suddenly swung over my shoulder “This place is Fun City, huh?” Snyder laughs as we all look at him in shock “Principal Snyder?” Buffy gasps “Call me Snyder. Just a last name, like... Barbarino”.

I look at my sister completely lost “B, he's  _touching_  me” I whispered looking at the short man in between us “I don't like to be touched” Snyder lets go of us and pumps his arms and fists around wildly “Ooh! I'm so stoked!”

Snyder comes back down from his outburst and lets out a breath “Hey, did you see Ms. Barton? I think she's wasted” Snyder almost giggles “I'm gonna have to put that in her next performance review 'cause...” he stops and gives us an impish smile “'cause I'm the principal!”.

Snyder laughs as he turns around and heads back into the crowd “I don't like this. They could have heart attacks” Willow tells us looking concerned “Uh, well... ma-maybe there's a doctor here,” Buffy says as an older, shirtless man jumps up onto the stage, pushes Devon away from the microphone stand and yells out into the crowd “Yeeeeaaaaaah!”.

“I think that is my doctor” Will cries out as the man jumps from the stage expecting to be caught by the crowd, but they don't react fast enough, and he slams into the floor. The three of us cringe at the sight “He-he's usually less... topless”.

Snyder sticks his head between us again and I step away slightly, no need for anymore Snyder  _cooties_  “I got a commendation for being principal” he tells us impressed with himself “From the Mayor! Shook my hand twice”.

Buffy gives Snyder a fake smile “That's nice” Snyder nods and inhales deeply, two attractive women walk past us with drinks and Snyder makes eyes at them “Whoa! There are some foxy ladies here tonight!” He heads off after them.

Buffy, Willow and I walk in the other direction “What's happening?” Will asks sound distraught “I don't know, but it's happening to a whole lot of grownups” I concede as we stop by the stairs looking around at the crowd.

“They're acting like a bunch...” Willow starts as Buffy interjects “They're acting like a bunch of us” frowning I watch the adults act like prepubescent teens “I don't act like this” Buffy eyed me “You stole an 89-year-old woman's vehicle”.

I scoff and point to the rowdy adults “Yes! But I've never lay across a bar and let someone pour a jug of screwdriver down my throat” I tell them watching the people at the bar “... _yet_ ” I confessed grinning at my sister.

* * *

 

Boxes of chocolate bars keep rolling off of the line at the Milkbar factory, Trick, and Ethan walk through the shipping area “Demand's high” Trick stated as the warlock next to him grinned deviously “I thought it might be”.

“That's the reason I love this country. You make a good product, and the people will come to you. Of course, a lot of them are gonna die, but that's the other reason I love this country” The dark-skinned vampire confessed happily.

They stop walking, and Trick steps over to the man inspecting the boxes before they get sealed “Hey! Don't sample the product” he shouted as the man shook his head quickly “But I didn't”.

Trick grabs him by the overalls, pulls him into a headlock and jerks his head around, breaking his neck and throwing him to the floor as Ethan looks away in distaste.

Trick straightens his jacket and checks his pinky ring as they continue to walk “Okay. Uh, how did you know he was...” Ethan started motioning back to the body in question as the vampire shrugs.

“I don't. Now I know no one else will” Trick checks his watch “We're getting close” stopping a line worker Trick motioned to the product on the line “Keep it flowing” Giving Ethan a smirk he tipped his head “It's almost feeding time” He walks off leaving Ethan standing there staring after him, After a moment Ethan heads back the way they came.

* * *

 

Oz, Willow, Buffy and I all observe the crowd “Something's definitely changing them” Buffy says as I nod in agreement “A spell?” Willow offers as we continue to watch the vivacious adults.

“They're teenagers. It's a sobering mirror to look into, huh?” Oz admits as Snyder walks by, sees Oz and stops “You've got great hair” He walks around Oz, smiling and staring at his hair.

Suddenly the music stops and a group of older men starts singing "Louie Louie" up on the stage. They are off-key, out of sync and basically just plain terrible but the crowd dances to them anyway.

“It just gets more upsetting” Willow mumbles as I look at the old guys in stage wide-eyed “No vampire has ever been that scary,” I tell my friends as I point to the stage.

Suddenly loud shouting and noises start behind us as Snyder turns to face us smiling and nodding his head vigorously “Fight!” Willow lets out a helpless sigh and I rub my temples in annoyance.

Buffy starts to head out “We've gotta figure out what's going on,” she tells me as I follow nodding “This has Hellmouth fingerprints all over it” Willow and Oz follow behind us.

I bump into my sister as she stops by a pinball machine where we see a woman hold out a candy bar to her boyfriend. He takes a huge bite while he keeps playing the game. Our pause gives Snyder a chance to catch up after noticing we're leaving “Hey, where are we going?”.

Pushing my sister the four of us leave the club heading for mom's car “Wait up, you guys!” Snyder calls from behind us as he follows us out “Hey! You guys aren't trying to ditch me, are ya?”.

Buffy pulls out the keys as we walk up to the car and I stop my sister “B, I think now's the time to let me drive” Buffy just rolls her eyes and once again puts her fist into her palm.

“Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot!” We call and once again Buffy grins as me knowingly “Rock  _always_  beats scissors” I punch the air in annoyance “ _son of a..._ ” opening the door to the passenger seat I slam the door behind me.

“We should find Giles. He'll know what's going on, right?” Oz tells us as he and Willow climb into the backseat “Sure. Except for all we know, he's sweet sixteen again” Buffy huffs as we all pull on our seatbelts.

“He's with your mom at his place” Willow states as I let out a laugh “bom chicka wah wah” Buffy starts the car and gives me a look until Snyder opens the door behind her and gets in.

“I said, wait up!” he huffs slamming the door closed “Uh, Snyder...” Oz tries but I just wave at him “No time. He's coming with us” Buffy puts the car in gear and slams on the gas, burning some rubber in her hurry to get going “Whoa, Summers! You drive like a spaz!”.

Driving down the streets I look out of the window and notice all the adults parading around looking like idiots “It'll be okay when we get to Giles” Willow says sounding hopeful “Of course, I mean, even if he's sixteen, he's still Giles, right? He's probably a pretty together guy” Oz mentions as Buffy and I look at each other knowingly.

“Yeah, well...” I start with a grimace remembering the stories Giles had told us and back when we fought Eyghon “What?” Oz questions confused “Giles at sixteen? Less Together Guy, more Bad-Magic-Hates-The-World-Ticking-Time-Bomb Guy”.

“Well, then I guess your mom's in a lotta trouble” Oz states as I nod slowly “I wonder what mom was like a sixteen” I questioned aloud as my sister snorts “probably a good girl, doing her homework and getting home before curfew”.

I looked over to my sister to laugh when I saw a car speeding towards us “Buffy look out!” I shouted tensing up for the impact. The other Jeep hits us hard on the left rear door and back panel, making us spin around a quarter turn.

The driver of the other Jeep quickly gets out “Sorry! Gotta go!” he shouts as he runs off laughing, the fours of us get out of moms car, my first instinct is to chase the man but Buffy grabs my arm letting him get away and looks at the dent in the car “Oh, God”.

Buffy closes her door as Snyder swings his door closed as well, but it won't shut properly anymore because of the impact from the crash “Are you guys okay?” Buffy questions shakily as we all look over the car in shock “Told you, you should have let me drive” I muttered as Buffy glares at me for a minute.

“Is anybody else all creeped out and trembly?” Willow asks as we look around seeing three men sitting in the playground, laughing and smoking “Oh, Buffy... Your mom's gonna kill you” Snyder tells my sister who is busy looking at the other side of the street “Something's weird” she mumbles

“No grownups” she concludes as we watch two women strut past the men by the tree, munching on chocolate as the guys give them catcalls. Snyder starts to unwrap a bar of his own “No one's protecting their houses. Everyone's just... wandering” A man runs up behind Snyder, grabs his chocolate bar and runs off with it.

“Hey!” Snyder shouts as we stare at the man as he runs away “Hey, give it!” Snyder goes after the man “Defenseless” Willow utters as Buffy turns to us again “So where are all the vampires?” The four consider this “Soup's on, but no one's grabbing a spoon” I say as I watch all the adults running around like kids.

“Something's happening... someplace that's else” Oz offers as Buffy nods “I'd say something big” Snyder returns upset “That guy took my candy!” Suddenly Buffy and I look at each other astonished “It's the candy!” we call in unison “it's gotta be the candy! It's cursed” Buffy tells Willow and Oz as they exchange a look.

Snyder turns to me looking worried “A curse?! Oh, I've got a curse” I roll my eyes at the older man “You are a curse” I huff turning back to my friends “God, using candy for evil!” Willow gasps as Oz jumps “My parents ate a ton”.

Buffy looks at Snyder and jumps at him, pushing him up against the other Jeep “Who's behind it?” Snyder eyes us confused “I don't know. It came through the school board” he shakes his head “If you knew that crowd...”

Losing my patience I pushed my sister away and grabbed Snyder by his lapels “Where did it come from? Do you know where to get it?” Snyder has the right mind to look terrified and nods quickly “Yeah”.

Letting go of Snyder I turned to Willow and Oz “You guys get Xander and Cordelia. Go to the library and look it up” I order them as Oz frowns at me “Candy curses?” Willow grabs Oz's hand “Disturbing second childhood. Got it” Willow pulls on Oz's hand, and they start on their way.

Buffy turns to Snyder with a sneer “Ratboy, Nikki and I are going to the source” she calls out to Willow as they run off, grabbing Snyder's shoulder Buffy shoves him toward the car, quickly getting in to the drivers seat I looked at my sister “no time” I told her as she got into the seat next to me and we drive off towards the Milkbar factory.

Pulling the jeep into a screeching halt, Buffy and I jump out of the car and march over to the crowd with Snyder following behind us. Passing a couple making on the street Buffy pulls me to a stop and we look back at the couple “Mom? Giles?!”.

Giles doesn't look up at us and continues kissing our mother “Go away. We're busy” my lip curls in disgust as my mom lets out a moan “Mom!” Buffy shouts pulling mom away from our Watcher “Hey!” mom calls and my eyes widen seeing her outfit.

“Where did you get that coat?” Buffy asks shock before shaking her head “ Never mind. Listen...” Giles grabs Buffy's arm and turns her to face him “Back off!” my hand shoots out and grabs Giles' wrist and twists a little “Giles, think about this. You wanna fight me, or you wanna let me talk to our mother?”

Giles glances at me as I look at him blankly, realizing he wouldn't have a chance against us he backs down, yanking his hand from me and up to the side of his face, where he grabs a cigarette from behind his ear.

“Mom, look at me. Do you know who we are?” Buffy questions our mom who smiles at us “Of course. You're Buffy and Nikki” she looks over at the crowd “Hey, look. They're, they're giving away candy. You want some candy?”.

“No, I don't! And you don't need any more, either” Buffy argued as mom looks at her annoyed “I'm fine. I can have more if I want” I watched as mom rolled her eyes with attitude “You are not fine. You need to go home” Buffy laments more like a mother now and not a child.

“Screw you,” Mom tells Buffy whose mouth drops “whoa! Wait a minute when I act like this you ground me but when you do it, it's suddenly okay?” I argued as Buffy sighs when mom and I glare at each other.

Buffy grabs my arm as I continue to argue with my teenaged mother “Nikki please, I really need you to be an adult with me right now” I frowned at my sisters innocent meaning words “I always have to be an adult, I always have to push my feelings back!”

“I want candy!” Mom tells us almost stomping her foot as Buffy looks like she wants to rip out her own hair “Mom!” but mom's not having it “You wanna slay stuff, and  _I'm_  not allowed to do anything about it. Well, this is what  _I_  wanna do, so get off my back!

“Mom, please, this is...” Buffy tries until Giles reaches for mom and pulls her away “Oh, for God's sake. Just let your mum have the sodding candy. C'mon, Joyce...” Buffy holds mom back and points at her black Jeep Cherokee “Mom, look at your car. Look at that dent the size of New Brunswick. I did that”

Mom lets out a loud gasp and Buffy sighs thinking she was back “Oh, my God. What was I thinking when I bought the  _Geek_  Machine?” Giles busts up laughing and Buffy looks like she can't believe our mom's response.

I give up and step over to Giles “Listen to me. You need...” Giles interrupts and leans down into my face “No, you listen to me. I'm your Watcher, so you do what I tell you” he points at the Jeep “Now, sod off!”

“Nikki” Buffy's voice comes out as a warning as my lips curls in anger, grabbing the cigarette from Giles' mouth I throw it down and stomp it out angrily “Take her home” I barked at Giles before turning to my mother “and don't even think we're finished young lady”.

Turning I start to push my way through the crowd toward the loading dock with my sister following in tow. Stepping up on a crate I take out one of the men tossing candy to the crowd by punching him in the back of the knee.

As he crumples and falls off of the end of the dock Buffy log rolls onto the platform and flips up to her feet. The other man throws away the box of candy bars he just grabbed, and Buffy ducks, thinking that it's being thrown at her.

Jumping up next to Buffy I watch as she grabs onto the guys shirt, spins halfway around and launches him off of the dock, turning I see Giles and my mom at the base of the dock stuffing chocolate bars into their pockets.

“Mom!” Buffy calls and grabs her by the arms and pulls her up shocking our mother “Hey!” she cries out making Giles looks up “Oy! You leave her alone!” kicking open the door to the factory I look over my shoulder to see Buffy pushing mom in behind me.

As we walk into the shipping area Buffy lets go of mom “Stay” she orders and walks over to me nodding as we look around to see what we can find. Buffy nudges me and nods over to a lone man on a phone.

We slowly approach the man on the phone tuning out what the other adults are talking about “Yeah, I've been out there. Town's wide open. You guys can go anytime” my jaw clenches as I immediately recognize the voice.

Buffy crosses her arms as we close the distance between us “Ethan Rayne” He turns to face us and his eyes go wide with surprise putting the phone back to his ear he speaks into it nervously “Might wanna hurry”.

“Ethan” Giles greets from behind us and Ethan nods back at Giles knowingly with a hint of fear “Ripper” He wastes no time breaking into a fast run and we give immediate chase.

Ethan runs under the inclined end of the conveyor and pulls a rack behind him to block their way, but the three of us just jump over the low end of it instead and continue the chase. Running through a maze of aisles we round a corner only to discover that we've lost him.

Behind us, Giles stops running, too, and breathes heavily to catch his breath “Where... Bloody Hell!” glancing at my Watcher I smirk “That's what smoking will do to you. Now be quiet” Giles throws his hands up “Well... Where'd the bastard go?”

“Shh!” Buffy hisses sounding annoyed as we walk around a corner before stopping “What?” Giles questions as I put my hand out for him to stop when my instincts start to go static just like in training this morning.

Buffy looks at me and I nod to her as she suddenly does a half-spinning hook kick into a crate and yanks away a chunk of wood, reaches in and pulls Ethan's head out “Look. A box full of farm-fresh chicken” Ethan gives us a nervous smile, but it quickly fades.

I reached in and pulled Ethan out of the box “So, Ethan, what are we playing? We're pretty much in a talk-or-bleed situation. Your call” Buffy hisses at Ethan “Hit him” Giles calls behind us and I give a small smile at his rambunctiousness.

Buffy glares at him for an instant, then looks back at Ethan “I-I'd just like to point out that this wasn't my idea” Ethan says as Giles begins to pace behind us “Meaning...?” I question as the warlock looks over at me.

“I'm subcontracting. It's Trick you want. I'm just helping him collect a tribute... for a demon” Ethan admits to us with his hands in his pockets looking like a scorned child “He's lying. Hit him!” Giles shouts egging us on.

“I don't think he is, and shut up” Buffy calls to Giles over her shoulder “You two are  _my_  Slayers” Giles tells us before he points at Ethan “go knock his teeth down his thr...” Buffy turns and interrupts him “Giles!” He turns away from her and continues pacing.

“What demon?” I inquired as Ethan just shrugs at me “I don't remember” bringing back my fist I punch him solidly in the nose without a care as he stumbles back against the broken crate “Yes!” Giles jumps and swings his fist through the air.

Buffy gives Giles a glaring look and he loses his smile as Ethan holds his nose looking at me “Lurconis. Demon named Lurconis. They wanted a way to get the tribute away from people” Buffy crosses her arms “So you're just Diversion Guy?”.

“More than a diversion. Well, they said the tribute was big, so big that people would never let them take it. That people had to be out-of-it. And later on, when the candy wore off, they'd blame themselves” Ethan explains as Buffy sighs “Hence, land of the irresponsible. So, where's Trick?”.

Ethan looks down with another shrug “I don't know exactly” Giles taps on my shoulder repeatedly “Hit him again” I give Ethan a threatening look and he puts his hands up in defense “No! I-I-I really don't know. Delivering the tribute”.

I look at my sister questioningly wonder whether to punch Ethan again but she steps closer to him “Which brings us to the bonus question, and believe me when I say a wrong answer will cost you  _all_  your points” Giles leaps up joyously behind us with a huge smile on his face, anticipating a good fight “What's the tribute?”

* * *

 

The phones are ringing off the hook and all of the circuits on the switchboard at the nurse's station are flashing at the maternity ward at Sunnydale General Hospital, the nurse just ignores it all and watches her small television.

Four vampires boldly enter the hall and walk right past the nurse but she doesn't even notice them, they turn down another hall looking very sure of where they are headed.

They reach the room where the newborns are kept and walk straight in, each of them carefully takes a crying baby from its crib. They walk out of the ward in single file, gently holding the babies in their arms.

* * *

 

Ethan is leaning against a table while Snyder crouches nearby, keeping an eye on him. Buffy is on the phone with Willow at the library “Right. Lurconis. See if it says anything about a tribute” Sitting on the conveyor belt I watched my sister's one-sided conversation.

“I don't know”.she looks at Ethan who is glancing in my direction “My source is all tapped out” Snyder notices Ethan's looks and smirks “She whupped you good, huh?” he throws two punches in the air “Yah! Wah!” he stands up proudly “I can do that. I took Tae Kwon Do at the Y”.

He goes into a series of kicks and punches, grunting with each one as he advances toward mom, trying to impress her. She just rolls her eyes, looks away and sighs, unimpressed. It worrying to see how much my mom and I are alike at the 'same age' Snyder realizes it wasn't working and leans against the wall as mom blows a bubble with her gum.

“No, no. It's definitely a demon. A big one” Buffy says again and I glance over to her as she played with the phone cord “I wouldn't” my eyes shot over to Giles and noticed he had a gun pressed into Ethan's neck.

Buffy turns around and swings the telephone receiver hard into Ethan's chin, he spins down to the floor,   
dropping the crowbar. Giles aims the gun at the back of Ethan's head, execution style as Buffy hands the phone to mom.

“Giles, give me the gun” Buffy orders holding out her hand but Giles just stares at Buffy and doesn't give in “Giles...” she tries again using the same warning tone she uses with me, Gile keeps the gun aimed right where it is.

“G!” I pipe up when Giles still doesn't give Buffy the gun, after another moment Giles reluctantly gives up his weapon to Buffy who stuffs it into the back of her pants “Good way to put a bullet in your butt” I tell her sarcastically as mom holds the phone out to Buffy “Uh, it's, um, it's Willow. She wants you real bad”.

Buffy takes the phone back “Uh-huh?” a few moments go by and Buffy quickly hangs up the phone looking at me worried “We need to go, now” I nod and jump up as Buffy grabs mom's hand “Well, what about that man?”

We both turn to see Giles holding the crowbar over Ethan, who is still on the floor “Uh, see if you guys can find something to tie him up with” Buffy dictates as mom reaches behind her and pulls out a set of handcuffs, dangling them from her thumb and giving us a sheepish but mischievous look.

Taking the cuffs from mom I point at her “If you remember this tomorrow you can no longer give me shit about the way I act” I tell her and head over to Ethan and grabbing his wrist.

* * *

 

Looking into the empty cribs I frowned as Buffy holds an identification wristband left behind “Something's gonna eat those babies?” mom asks me sounding sad and worried as Snyder walks up beside her “I think that is so wrong” he says shaking his head.

Giles comes into the room looking annoyed “She says she never saw who took them. Dozy cow” Buffy looks over at our Watcher sadly “We  _know_  who took them” Giles throws his hands up chewing his gum “Well, then let's do something. Let's find the demon and, and... kick the crap out of it”.

“Is that what happens now?” Snyder asks looking nervous as he chews his nails “Yeah if we knew where they were” I huffed starting to pace “'Lurconis dwells beneath the city, filth to filth.'” Giles utters and I stop pacing “What?”.

“Ooo!” Giles exclaims as he turns to face me “I know this” we all look at Giles expectantly as he tries to remember more “Uh... I knew this. 'Lurconis' means...” he stops to think “'glutton'. And we'll find it, um...” he thinks again and shrugs “in the sewers”.

“The sewers?” mom repeats as she goes to Giles for a hug “Uh, good. You go do that thing with the demon, and I'll stay here in case the babies, you know, uh... find their way back” mom lets go of Giles and whispers sadly “The babies must be so scared”.

Giles looks at Snyder with a sneer “You filthy little ponce” he steps toward him in challenge “Are you afraid of a little demon?” Snyder eyes Giles miffed “If you want to splash around in the poo” he gives Giles a shove “you're the filthy one!” Giles shoves him back equally annoyed.

Buffy gets between them “Okay, you know what? Everybody just stop it! Okay, listen to me. I need help, okay? Giles, I need grownups.” Snyder and Giles continue trying to stare each other down “These children are gonna die if we don't act now, okay, and think clearly” she tries to get Giles' attention “There is no room for mistakes. Besides which... you guys are just wigging me out”.

Snyder gives in and looks away and Giles gives him one last stare then steps back over to mom “Sorry” mom nods at us “We'll behave” her and Giles curl into each other “Good” I sigh and look at Snyder rolling my eyes “Snyder, go home” he nods his head and pulls a face as he leaves “I can do that”.

Buffy turns to face Giles “Giles, we're going to the sewers” we both grimace seeing him kissing our mom again “And don't do that!” Buffy hisses as we both stalks out of the room with the two of them reluctantly following us.

* * *

 

Opening the manhole I frown hearing the sounds of baby cries “they're here” I tell Buffy as I drop down into the manhole with her following behind me, the Mayor turns his head to face us “Hi” behind us Giles climbs down a few rungs of the ladder and drops down the rest of the way.

The robed vampires quickly growl at us and in for an attack move to attack them, the first vampire swings wildly at Buffy, but she ducks him “I'll take the ugly one” she announces as I look at each of the vampire's faces “wait but they're all ugly” I say as questioningly as mom hops down next to Giles.

Buffy roundhouse kicks the second one and turns back to the first one and shoves him away from her and he smashes into the ladder as the second one squares up to me, giving him a roundhouse kick another vampire tries to kick me from behind, but I block him and roundhouse kick him in the side.

I notice mom and Giles run over to the table with the babies and wheel it away, Buffy and I fight perfectly in trained sync as the vampire keep coming back for more, pulling out our stakes we both cleanly stake our enemies and watching as they burst into ashes.

Another vampire runs towards Buffy who side kicks him, and he flies backward onto the rim of the pool and back rolls into the water. Suddenly we all hear a deep rumbling the vampire tries to get up out of the water.

Putting my arms down out of my fighting stance I listen to the rumbling as it gets louder., the vampire climbs onto a pedestal in the middle of the pool “What the hell's that?” Giles questions out loud as the vampire gets to his knees.

Just then a huge demon snake appears through another tunnel by the water, it sees the vampire on the pedestal, engulfs him and retreats back into the tunnel “Lurconis, I'm thinking” I say wide-eyed in surprise “Ordinarily, I like other people to do my fighting for me, but I just gotta see what you got” Trick announces as he cockily steps up to us.

Buffy and I get back into fighting stance “Just tell us when it hurts” We start to advance on him, but Giles rushes past us “Giles! No!” Buffy screams as I watch I shock as he throws a solid left to Trick's face, but he isn't fazed.

He grabs Giles by the shirt and throws him into the pool. Trick makes a dash for it. Giles starts to climb out of the water at the rim of the pool “Oh shit!” I shout as the rumbling starts again, quicker this time and I knew what was about to come.

I looked around frantically for a way to stop the demon and notice my sister look up “Nikki jump” she shouted as we both lept up and grabbed the gas pipe above our heads, it breaks under our weight, and gas begins to hiss out of it.

Giles is out of the water now and rolls over the rim of the pool and down to the floor as we angle the gas pipe into one of the torches, and it bursts into flames. The snake demon comes through the tunnel once more but rears back and screams in pain as it becomes engulfed in flames.

Screeching loudly the Lurconis move back down the tunnel taking the fire with it “You and me, girls” A voice calls out and we spin around to see Trick up the manhole “There's hard times ahead” He gets up and makes himself scarce.

Buffy exhales “They never just leave. Always gotta say something” I nod along and shrug in ponder “maybe something to think about next time we need to stake him” mom comes out of the shadows and over to us “Can we go home now?”.

Giles gets up, soaked to the skin as Buffy nods “Yeah, we can go home. I've got the SATs tomorrow” Mom scoffs at Buffy “Oh, blow them off. I'll write you a note” I brighten up and smile widely “Ok!” I agree as mom goes back to the babies.

Buffy gives me a look “No” before turning to mom “No. It's okay” I roll my eyes as we join mom by the babies “Poor babies. Come on...” mom coos at the four small babes as Giles come over to help as well.

* * *

 

Brushing my hair I jumped on my bed with a sigh knowing I should be doing some last minute prep for the SATs but the book I remembered Giles gave me this morning was practically burning through my brain.

Picking up my bag I pulled out the red tattered leather book and opened it slowly to where Giles had marked “The strength of Telekinesis varies depending on the strength and skill of users. A lot of practice and concentration will improve the precision and accuracy as well as the distance that objects/beings can be moved”.

I nodded to myself that seemed pretty obvious, reading on I noticed Giles had underlined the trigger section but as I skimmed over it I noticed there was nothing to tell me what my trigger might be so that was something I would have to figure out on my own.

Putting the book down I focused on my alarm clock before closing my eyes and thinking about something happy “okay, uhh...” opening my eyes I realized I had no happy thoughts springing to mind “Damn it, uh, okay, thinking about...oh Beck”.

Picturing Beck in my mind a smile came to my face but when I opened my eyes the alarm clock hadn't moved an inch “not a happy trigger then” looking at the page again I tried to think of some more emotions “Sadness, right, I'm sad because... people are _idiots_ ” again nothing.

Sighing I closed my eyes tightly this time I knew I had to try fear it would make sense for fear to be my trigger after what happened, breathing heavily I began to picture myself back at the mansion and how scared I was but the more I thought about my emotions started to haywire.

Remembering how his eyes looked when he told me what he was going to do to me, the way he taunted me when he cut me with his dagger  _“the annoying thing is, you'll be healed in a few hours and it won't leave a scar”_  my breath hitched slightly.

_“Well, it's sexy I'll give you that but it's just in my way”_

_“Shh, beautiful, it'll all be over soon”_

_“baby, I don't want to kill you”_

_“Oh no, I want to keep you forever”._

_“Princess there's more than one way to break a woman”_

Opening my eyes suddenly I let out a strangled scream as I flung my arm up in sheer anger and watched as the entire contents on my desk flew into the wall but the little alarm clock stayed sitting on my desk in perfect condition almost like it was mocking me.

Angry tears poured down my face as I clenched my hands into fists and closed my eyes tight “Nikki, you okay?” I heard Buffy's voice come from the other side of my door and a fire of hatred hit me and I remembered the song I had sung to Buffy at our house party.

“ _Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted. Did you have to ruin what was shiny? Now it's all rusted. Did you have to hit me, where I'm weak?. Baby, I couldn't breathe And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me”_

* * *

**A/N: So here is Bandy candy, I just want to say a big sorry for not getting it out sooner and thank you for everyone for waiting patiently for this chapter. I'm struggling a little with my mental health right now so thank you all for sticking it out with me!**

**Q:**  Did you catch the reference in this chapter to another fandom? leave a comment if you did!

 

 

 


	7. Telekinetic Lore

**Telekinetic** **Lore**

**Telekinesis**  is the ability to move objects as well as individuals with the mind. It can be channeled through the eyes or hands, the latter being the most common way to use the power.

 **Triggers** : Emotions, Hand or Eye gestures and/or words.

 **Strength and Skill:**  The strength of Telekinesis varies depending on the strength and skill of users. A lot of practice and concentration will improve the precision and accuracy as well as the distance that objects/beings can be moved.

* * *

**Channeling**

**Eyes:**  Telekinesis can be channeled her power through the eyes with practice, often by narrowing the eyelids and focusing her eyes on the intended target. The use of channeling through the eyes is particularly useful when the use of the hands is obstructed.

 **Hands:**  The primary channel of Telekinesis is by throwing the arm/ hand up in a thrusting motion, although when it comes to moving lighter objects, a simple flick the fingers is most effective.

* * *

**Abilities developed from Telekinesis**

**Super Strength:**  When utilized in the right way, telekinesis could grant the user a degree of superhuman strength. Performing physical actions that can be enhanced by telekinetic powers such as punches powerful enough to knock out larger attackers.

 **Agility:**  By applying their power to their own bodies, users can become inhumanly agile, allowing them to perform incredible feats such as superhuman jumps and leaps without much effort, through telekinetic powers performers have greater athletic maneuvers which make attacks even more deadly.

 **Deviation:**  When channeling the power through the hands, the user gains the ability to deviate several types of attacks; fire- and energy balls, energy beams or even physical hand to hand combat objects such as knives.

 **Strangulation and Crushing:**  Abilities that can be achieved through telekinesis, making users able to strangle their opponent or crush their skulls, heart, or any other organs. The distance limit between the user and the victim is dependent on the strength and skill of the user.


	8. Revelations

Faith and I both roll onto our backs, side by side, each with a vampire on top of us. I backhand punch my attacker while Faith struggles to get control over hers. The vamp on top of me tries to punch me but I redirect his arm to hit the ground next to me. 

Giles watches calmly while sitting behind us on a nearby bench, I was still on my back whilst the vamp is now standing over me, throwing punches down at my body. Faith log rolls away from us, taking her attacker with her. Giles takes off his glasses and cleans them.

Faith manages to roll on top of her vampire she yanks him by the lapels of his jacket to a standing position, spins half-way around and throws him into a log roll over a stone bench. He hits the ground and keeps on rolling. I get up and duck a half-spinning, jumping hook kick from the vampire and then sidestep to avoid a punch.

Faith jumps up onto the bench and then back down to the ground. Her attacker aims a punch at her face, but rethinks his maneuver and decides to snap kick her in the gut. Faith grabs his foot and throws it over his head, forcing him to flip over landing hard on his stomach. 

I throw a punch at my vamps face but he ducks it; I try for another one, but he blocks it. Then I aim for his stomach with another punch, but I'm blocked yet again “Goddammit!” I growl as the vampire tries to punch me, but I latch onto his arm and yanks him backward, then forwards, and twists his arm, sending him flipping onto his back. 

I noticed Giles calmly watching and takes notes. Faith has a firm grip on her attacker, and throws his head backward, sending him flying back onto a bench. His momentum carries him sliding over it, Faith jumps up onto the bench following him over, ready to attack again. 

I send my vampire spinning back to the ground with a two-kick combination of a roundhouse followed by a hook kick, I pause for a moment to let him get back up, and then roundhouse kicks him in the gut, followed immediately by a punch to his face as the momentum of my kick carries me around. 

Giles picks up his cup of coffee and continues his calm vigilance. Faith jumps down from the bench and roundhouse kicks her vampire in the face. I roundhouse kick mine again in the stomach as Faith punches her vampire in the stomach and takes aim with her stake. 

I shove my vamp against Faith’s, and they end up back to back as we both expertly both plunge our stakes into our respective demons simultaneously, causing us both to explode into ashes. After the dust settles, we give each other a high-five and Faith throws her arm over my shoulder as we head over to Giles.

“Synchronized slaying” I laugh linking my hand with hers as she hip bumps me “New Olympic category?” she winks as I face Giles “Whadaya think?” Giles lowers his coffee cup but keeps it held at mouth level.

“Sloppy” A voice calls out as we all turn to look at the woman who's just walked into view. Her hair is pulled up in a severe hairstyle, and she has a very serious look on her face “Excuse me?” I growl pissed off, I'd like to see her fight off a vamp.

“You telegraph punches, leave blindsides open and, uh, for a school-night slaying, take entirely too much time. Which one of you is Faith?” She literates as Giles looks back at us as we stand shocked.

“Depends. Who the hell are you?” Faith mumbles as her arms slide off my shoulders, Faith is stoic still, this is her usual go to when meeting new people something we had in common “Gwendolyn Post, Mrs. Your new Watcher”

Faith and I exchange a look, then look over at Giles who is still holding his cup and staring at Mrs. Post, too dumbfounded to speak “What the...?” I start with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

 

Giles had ushered us back to the library after the shock of meeting with Faith’s lovely new Watcher. Giles is leaning against the stair railing, cleaning his glasses, I was sitting near the middle of the large central table with several books lying open on it. 

Faith is standing by a corner of the table, addressing Mrs. Post, who is looking through some of Giles’ collection “I’m telling you, I don’t need a new Watcher. No offense, lady” Gwendolyn looks at her “I just have this problem with authority figures. They end up kind of dead” Faith nods sarcastically and takes a seat next to me.

Gwendolyn walks past the table “Duly noted, and fortunately, it’s not up to you” Faith gives me a look and I just half smile sympathetically. Gwendolyn walks around the table below the railing of the upper level, looking around at the few stacks there are in the study area of the library, apparently unaware that the main stacks are up the stairs and through a set of French doors, well out of view.

“Mr. Giles, where do you keep the rest of your books?” she questions Giles who had been oddly quiet until now “I-I’m sorry” he slips on his glasses “The rest?” Gwendolyn nods looking around “Yes, the actual library”.

Giles gives her a confused look “Oh” Gwendolyn starts as she smiles thinly “I see” I grimace and lean into Faith “Awkward” Giles gives me a look before turning back to the uptight woman “I can assure you, Mrs. Post, this is the finest occult reference collection...”

Gwendolyn interrupts him “... this side of the Atlantic, I’m sure. Do you have Hume’s Paranormal Encyclopedia?” Giles looks away, knowing that while his collection is superior, it is still not complete.

“The Labyrinth Maps of Malta?” Gwendolyn questions again as I give Giles a hopeful look knowing we verbally got our asses handed to us “It’s on order” He replies meekly as the other Watcher nods knowingly.

“Well, I suppose that you have Sir Robert Kane’s Twilight Compendium?” She tries again “Oh! Uh...” Giles looks around “Yes, I...” he spots the book “Yes!” he cheers pulling it out and holding it up for her to see “Yes, I do”.

Gwendolyn just glances at him unimpressed “Of course you do," she paces past him “I have been sent by the council for a very important reason. Faith needs a Watcher. I am to act in that capacity and report back.”

Faith leans forward in her chair looking annoyed “Excuse me, Mary Poppins, you don't seem to be listening” Giles interrupts Faith “Faith, if the council feels that you need closer observation, then... we will all, of course, cooperate”

Faith leans back again, not at all happy with the situation as Gwendolyn with a smug smile “The council wishes me to report on the  _entire_ situation here” she turns to Giles “including you”.

My eyebrows shoot up as Giles looks taken by surprise “Mm! Academic probation's not so funny today, huh, Giles?” I roll her eyes innocently as Giles glares at her but I just give it right back to him.

“The fact is, there is talk in the council that you have become a bit too...” Gwendolyn inhales dramatically “American” she spits out distastefully as Giles looks taken aback “Me?” I grin as I point my finger in my Watchers direction “Him?”.

“A demon named Lagos is coming here to the Hellmouth” Gwendolyn starts before looking at Giles condescendingly “Mr. Giles, an illustration of Lagos, if you please” Giles nods a bit flustered “Oh, uh...” he looks at the books on the table “Yes. Uh...”

He sits at the table and begins to look through one of the books as Gwendolyn tuts “Perhaps later” Giles stops looking, very taken aback as he begins to seeth “Lagos seeks the Glove of Myhnegon. No record of this glove's full power exists, but we do know it is highly dangerous and must not fall into the hands of a demon. Lagos must be stopped”.

Giles folds his hands over his books and looks up at her “What do you propose?” Faith and I just nod looking at the female Watcher “Well, if it's not too radical a suggestion, I thought we might kill him”.

Giles turns his head away from her and takes off his glasses yet again “I suggest all three Slayers at full strength for a coordinated hunt” I turn to look at Faith who is just giving Gwendolyn an even stare.

“We believe the glove to be buried in a tomb somewhere, so Lagos will be headed for the cemetery” Giles turns to Gwendolyn with a heavy sigh “There is more than one in Sunnydale” The older female nods “I see. How many?”.

“Uh, twelve, within the city limits” Gwendolyn takes a deep breath looking very put out “Well, we'll just have to take them one at a time” Giles puts his glasses back on and starts to look through his books again.

“Anything in your books that might pinpoint the exact location of the tomb would be useful, but then, we cannot ask for miracles” Giles lets his book drop to the table and makes a point of looking directly away from her, rubbing his fingers, keeping his cool.

“We will begin tomorrow at sunset. Faith... “ Faith looks almost startled “With me, please” Gwendolyn gives Faith a thin smile and walks from the library “Good luck” I call to Faith who gives me a begging look then follows her Watcher out.

Giles visibly relaxes when they've gone “That was bracing” He slaps his glasses onto the table and leans his lips into his fist “Interesting lady. Can we kill her?” I question with a grin as Giles lowers his fist “I think the council might frown upon that”.

His expression indicates he's considering it anyway, but soon discards the notion “Well...” he starts randomly as he stands up “How do you feel about a spot of training?”.

* * *

 

Angel and Buffy are practicing T’ai Chi in front of the great fireplace in Angel’s mansion. Angel concentrates on the exercises, but Buffy watches his moves and does her best to mirror them. They each begin with their arms stretched high above and ahead of them, hands together, they lower their arms to waist level with a graceful bend at the elbows. 

Buffy glances over at Angel, watching his elegant movements. She turns her attention back to the exercise and crosses her right wrist over her left. They both sweep their crossed arms in a wide arc from left to right and then draw their hands into their waists and make a quarter turn to their left so that Buffy has her back to Angel. 

They both extend their arms and slowly raise them, never stopping their fluid movements, until their hands are again held high. Angel takes the two steps over to Buffy and puts his hands over hers. 

Buffy looks up at his hands on hers as he pulls her arms down and around her. She slowly turns to face him and angles her face up toward him. their lips almost meet when Buffy suddenly pulls away and walks over to one of the two couches set at right angles to each other to get her things.

“Uhh... I gotta go. Big night for us Slayer types," Angel turns away, a confused expression on his face as Buffy pulls on her backpack “People to see, demons to kill," she starts to leave “Better hurry before somebody figures out what we’re doing,".

Angel pulls on his shirt “What are we doing?” he questions as Buffy stops in her tracks “Training” she says aloud before continuing quietly “And almost kissing” Angel looks at her and steps toward her as he buttons his shirt. 

Buffy turns to face him “Sorry. It’s just...” she smiles weakly “old habit” her smile drops from her face “Bad, bad habit to be broken,” she says awkwardly as she looks up to Angel “It’s hard” The vampire mutters doing up the last button.

“It’s not hard” Buffy disagrees weakly “Cold turkey. That’s the key to quitting” she continues with false resolve as they both look at each other for a long moment, knowing it’s just not that easy.

“You think they make a patch for this?” Buffy questions desperately as Angel just sighs heavily “You have to go” Buffy agrees knowing what she had to do but also knowing what she wanted to do “I really do”.

Angel looks away as Buffy turns again to go she only gets two steps when she sighs and turns to face Angel again “I’m gonna try and vent a little hormonal angst by going out there and killing a Lagos, whatever that is”.

Angel faces her again upon hearing that demon’s name “Lagos?” he questions interested as the Slayer nods “Yeah Nikki said it’s some demon looking for some all-powerful thingamabob” Angel sits suddenly looking worried “and I gotta stop him before he unleashes unholy havoc” Buffy sees Angel’s worried look “and it’s another Tuesday night in Sunnydale”.

Angel can’t bring himself to look at her again, and so just stares off into space “Be careful” Buffy nods with a gentle smile “your sister too” Angel adds after a second as Buffy turns and heads out of the mansion. Angel watches her back as she goes, and when she’s gone, he gets up to start some work of his own.

* * *

 

Faith, Buffy and I walk along the street on patrol as people and cars go by “Ronnie, deadbeat. Steve, klepto. Kenny... drummer. Eventually, I just had to face up to my destiny as a loser magnet. Now it’s strictly get some, get gone. You can’t trust guys," Faith huffs with a shrug.

“You can trust some guys” Buffy retaliates as Faith and I give her a look “Really, I’ve read about them” she adds making me laugh “So, what about you?” Faith questions my older sister, the two of them rarely talk or patrol with each other and Faith likes to dig into peoples business so this is to be expected.

“You mean like, me and guys me?” Buffy asks with a surprised look as Faith nods “Not much to tell these days” my sister says quietly and I look past Faith to see Buffy’s face has changed she now looked somber.

“Yeah, but you gotta have stories. I mean, I’ve had my share of losers, but you... you boinked the undead. What was that like?” frowning I started to wonder why Faith wanted to know so much about Angel “Life with Angel’s... was complicated. It’s still a little hard for me to talk about," Buffy told Faith trying to steer away from the conversation.

Whether Buffy wanted to talk about something other than her murderous ex-boyfriend who no longer inhabited this planet or she wanted to avoid the question because I was around I had no idea but Faith wasn’t going to let it go.

“Well, try” Faith pushed as I let out a sigh, faith’s hand brushed mine slightly and her fingers grabbed mine squeezing a little when I suddenly realized she didn’t care about my sisters love life, she was interrogating him about Angel because of what he did to me.

Buffy stop walking causing Faith and me to stop too “Look, Faith, all the Angel issues are still kind of with me, so if you don’t mind, I’d rather not” hearing my sister's tone I let go of Faith’s fingers as she shrugged “Yeah. Yeah, whatever”.

Buffy looks away upset and my heart tightened knowing she was thinking about Angel before he became murderey “You know what? We’re oh for six tonight. Why don’t we just blow this off?”.

My sister looked at me surprise “Yeah. I am kinda beat. But-but Shady Hill’s pretty close” she mumbled as Faith shrugs again “We’ll swing through it. It’s on my way anyway” Buffy nods but still glances at us unsure.

“I’ve already got Miss. Priss on my back we don’t need a babysitter right now. I’ll holler if we’re having any fun," Faith adds throwing her arm over me like she had done many times before as Buffy smiles thinly “Okay,".

“Thanks” Buffy whispers to me as I walk away with Faith “What the hell was that?” I question my fellow Slayer as she shoves her hands in her pockets “What?” she retorts trying to look innocent “I just wanted to know about Angel”.

Opening the cemetery gate I gave her an annoyed look “you know about Angel but Buffy doesn’t know about Angel so stop," Faith steps closer to me looking sorry “I just... he hurt you and she’s still in love with him, it’s annoying," Faith admitted before seeing the look on my face “I’m sorry okay?”.

Nodding I let out a heavy sigh “Alright, I’ll take this side you go that side” Faith nodded at my delegations and began to walk away with me watching her knowing she was just trying to help me in some weird Faith way.

Walks around a hedge I scanned the graveyard as I quickly walked through it, nothing seemed out of place and there were no demons or vampires in sight. Hearing a loud noise I stopped for a second until I heard a familiar female grunting noise.

Running over in the direction of the sounds of fighting I saw Faith fighting Lagos, she tries to grab his neck, but he blocks her arm and does an uppercut to Faith’s diaphragm, which makes her airborne.

“Faith!” I shout lifting up my hands in instincts shocked when my telekinesis lessens the blow of her body crashing into mine “shit” I call holding Faith as she starts to struggle for breath “get him” she croaks as I lift up my arm but nothing happens. 

Lagos wastes no time getting out of there, stomping right past us, not giving us even so much as another glance, lowering my arm slowly I just held onto Faith not knowing what to do or how to feel.

* * *

 

Xander finds his way through the gravestones to the Von Hauptman family crypt in the Restfield cemetery, his breathing is heavy and nervous. He finds the crypt and peeks at it from behind a bush, making sure no one and nothing else is around. 

Stepping out from behind the bush he nervously looking around while he makes his way toward the crypt “Hey, Giles, here’s a nifty idea: why don’t I alleviate my guilt by goin’ out and gettin’ myself really, really killed?” he whispers to himself his voice covered with sarcasm.

He stops in his tracks when he thinks he hears a noise and sure enough, a second later he can hear the sound of stone grinding against stone coming from inside the crypt. He swiftly ducks behind a group of bushes, crouches down and waits to see who will come out.

A figure soon comes out of the crypt and pulls the door closed in its arms it holds something wrapped in a bunch of rags. The figure turns its back to Xander as it grabs the outer iron gate and swings it closed as well. Xander rises up just a bit so he can better see who it is. 

The figure turns around again and begins to cautiously make its way out of the graveyard, As it nears Xander, he sees that it’s Angel. Xander doesn’t take his eyes off of him as he walks past. 

When Angel is far enough ahead of him, Xander comes out from behind the bushes, pulls out his stake and starts to follow wanting to know exactly why Angel was back but more than that he wanted to finally be the one to shove a stake through him like he should have done a long time ago.

Xander sneaks down the stairs to the main gallery and tiptoes over to a window where he can see inside but there, to his shock, he sees Buffy with Angel, kissing passionately.

* * *

 

Inside the library, Giles paces slowly in the main area behind him the door opens, and he hears someone walk in. He turns to see it’s Buffy without Nikki and he inwardly praises his luck that the younger Summers girl has gone AWOL again especially because of the conversation they were about to have.

“Lagos is out of luck. I got the magic mitten thingy” Buffy says aloud as she stops to see that Xander, Cordelia, Oz, and Willow are all sitting at the center table looking as glum as Giles does “What’s with all the tragedy masks?”

Giles indicates a chair “Better take a seat, Buffy” Xander gets up out of his chair, nudges it over a bit so it’s at the head of the table, and steps away to stand next to Cordelia. Buffy slowly steps over to the chair “What’s going on?” she questions nervously sitting down “is it Nikki, where is she?”.

Giles just shakes his head “We know Angel is alive," Buffy looks shocked "Xander saw you with him. It would appear that you’ve been hiding him and that you lied to us," Buffy looks away, trying to absorb this new turn of events.

“Buffy. But this is serious. You need help," Willow gently says to her best friend who looks back at her desperately "It’s not what you think," Xander huffs "Hope not. Because I think you’re harboring a vicious killer,"

Buffy can’t believe Xander’s callousness and opens her mouth to retort when Willow cuts in trying to mediate “This isn’t about attacking Buffy. Remember, ‘I’ statements only. ‘I feel angry.’ ‘I feel worried.’”

“Fine. Here’s one: I feel worried... about me! Last time around, Angel barely laid a hand on Buffy. He was  _way_ more interested in killing her friends and hunting down her sister obsessively,” Cordelia shot at Buffy who frowned remembering how Angel had tortured her twin.

“But he’s better now” she defended weakly, Nikki would understand that Angel is back to be Angel now right? “Better for how long, Buffy? I mean, did you even think about that?” Xander hissed angrily.

Buffy stands up “What is this, Demons Anonymous?” she turns to leave “I don’t need an intervention, here," Giles finally steps in "Oh, don’t you?” Buffy stops and faces him in shock “You must’ve known it was wrong seeing Angel or you wouldn’t have hidden it from all of us”

Buffy looks at everyone desperate and defensive “I was going to tell you, I was. I-it was just that I... I didn’t know why he came back. I just wanted to wait and... and Nikki...” Buffy stuttered not knowing how to explain how she felt.

“For what? For Angel to go psycho again the next time you give him a happy?” Xander shouts viciously as Buffy turns to him raising her voice defensively “I’m not going to...” she raises her hand to him “We’re not together like that,".

“But you were kissing him” Oz calls out as Willow gives Oz a quick look, then looks at Buffy, worried. Buffy thinks about the implication of Oz’s accusation and looks at Xander “You were spying on me?” she steps toward him “What gives you the right?”

“What gives you the right to suck face with your demon lover again?” Cordelia calls out what everyone was thinking “It was an accident," Buffy hisses back defensively “What, you just tripped and fell on his lips?” Xander jumps in.

“It was wrong, okay? I know that, and I know that it can’t happen again. But you guys have to believe me. I would never put you in any danger. If I thought for a second that Angel was going to hurt anyone...”

“... you would stop him. Like you did last time with Ms. Calendar, or even after everything he did to your sister” Buffy is completely taken aback by Xander’s totally insensitive and unfair attack, and can’t utter a word in response.

Willow senses that it’s time to intercede before Xander spills the secret they’ve all been trying to keep from Buffy “Buffy, I feel that when it comes to Angel, you can’t see straight. And that’s why we’re, we’re all gonna help you face this,".

“But he’s better now. I swear. Look, you guys, he’s the one that found the Glove of Myhnegon. H-he’s keeping it safe for us in the mansion," Buffy stutters desperately trying to show everyone that the vampire had changed.

Xander spreads his arms “Right! Great plan. Leave tons of firepower with the Scary Guy, and leave us to clean up the mess” He makes tracks to leave the library, intent on doing something about this.

Buffy takes him by the arm and spins him around to face her “You would just love an excuse to hurt him, wouldn’t you?” Xander just looks at her annoyed “I don’t need an excuse. I think lots of dead people actually constitutes a reason,".

“Right. This is all nobility. This has nothing to do with jealousy” Xander gives her a haughty grin but is interrupted by Cordelia before he can continue “Hello? Miss Not-Over-Yourself-Yet?” Buffy shakes her head in warning “Don’t you start with me” Cordelia looks to Giles for support.

Giles looked between the teenagers deep in thought as Buffy and Xander continued to fight “did you even think about how this would upset your sister or do you just no care” Cordelia called out remembering Nikki’s broken look at the hospital.

“She’ll understand, even Giles is over the whole torture thing,” Buffy said offhandedly as the teenagers all exchanged looks as Xander let out a scathing laugh “we’re not talking about the torture, we’re talking about when you’re little boyfriend just wouldn’t take no for an answer!”.

Willow turns to Giles quickly knowing she had to stop this “Giles!” Giles walks forward with his hands in his pockets having finished his thoughts “That’s enough! Everybody. Now, Buffy knows our concerns, and her actions, however ill-advised, can be understood” Cordelia shakes her head wanting Xander to finish what he started.

“Giles she needs to know now, especially if she wants to bump uglies with the guy that...” Giles shots Cordelia a look but the girl doesn’t stop even when she sees Buffy’s confused look “tried to force himself on her twin sister,".

The room goes quiet as each person waits with bated breath to see what the Slayer would say “Angel didn’t... he wouldn’t...” Buffy tried to spit out but the words would pass her lips as she tried to make sense of what Cordelia had just told her “I think the word is rape Buffy”.

“Cordelia enough!” Giles shouted taking off his glasses and pinching his nose “all of you, back to classes” One after the other they all get up, gather their things and go. Giles goes into his office, his hands firmly stuffed into his pockets. Once there, he takes off his jacket and hangs it around the back of his chair. 

Buffy follows him and stops by the office door “what are they talking about Giles?” she questions uneasily, Giles doesn’t face her, and instead unbuttons his vest “Giles is it..” Giles interrupts with a gruff “Be quiet”.

He slowly turns to face her “true? Yes, Buffy, it’s true” tears well up in the Slayers eyes as she tries to digest the words her Watcher just said “did he?” she whispered as Giles shook his head “Angel wouldn’t do that to her Giles, he cares about her, he asks about her all the time”.

Giles eyes the Slayer sharply “and why do you think he asks about her Buffy? Guilty conscious?” the two remain still for a few minutes before Giles speaks up again “I won’t remind you that the fate of the world often lies with the Slayer. What would be the point? Nor shall I remind you that you’ve jeopardized the lives of all that you hold dear by harboring a known murderer,".

Buffy tries to argue but Giles holds his hands up “But sadly, I must remind you that Angel tortured me... for hours... for pleasure and I wouldn’t have thought your sister or myself we’re ‘over it’. You should have told me he was alive. You didn’t. You have no respect for me, or the job I perform,".

Buffy averts her eyes in shame as Giles turns back to his desk, sits down and leans back in thought “I wouldn’t ask Nicola about it she’s just beginning to feel more herself, you’ll only make her worse again” Buffy just stands in the doorway for a long moment before leaving quietly.

* * *

 

Sitting in the chair in Faith’s motel room we were talking about my powers not working when there is a knock at the door, Faith looks at me confused “people usually answer that when it knocks” I jested as she pushed me jokingly.

Faith opens the door stake raised and ready only to jump a little when she sees Gwendolyn standing there she lowers the stake as Mrs. Post enters “A word of advice? Vampires rarely knock. Especially in daylight” she closes the door behind her with a smile.

“Oh, right” Faith nods hitting my arm when she notices me laughing at her “Ah Miss Summers you’re here” I just nod at the Watchers as she looks around the motel room “Faith and I hang out a lot I guess”.

Faith raised her eyebrow at me as I shrugged “she makes me nervous when she’s in ‘mistress post’ mode” I whispered leaning into Faith until Gwendolyn turns to us expressionless “So... this is your home”.

“Yeah” Faith gestures around the room “The decorator actually just left” she smirks as I let out a small snort “girls, do you know who the Spartans were?” Gwendolyn leans against the dresser.

“Wild stab: a bunch of guys from Spart?” Faith answers as she sits on the bed eyeing her Watcher “They were the fiercest warriors known to Ancient Greece. And they lived in quarters very much like these. Do you know why? Because a true fighter needs nothing else. I’m going to be very hard on you, Faith. I will not brook insolence or laziness. And I will not allow blunders like last night’s attack. You will probably hate me a great deal of the time,".

Faith smiles sardonically “You think?” Gwendolyn steps over to the bed “But I will make you a better Slayer," she sits next to Faith as I watch her carefully “and that will keep you alive. You have to trust that I am right. God only knows what Mr. Giles has been filling your head with,".

“Giles is okay," I defended my Watcher as Gwendolyn stands to look at me in pity “His methods are unfathomable to me. I find him entirely confounding. But that is not important. Let him have his games and secret meetings”.

“What meetings?” I question as the older woman glances at me again “Oh, I don’t know. Something with Buffy and her friends” I frown to myself wondering what meeting they were having “they’ve just finished one, actually”.

“I wasn’t told about a meeting” I turned to Faith feeling hurt and I noticed the hurt look on her face “why weren’t we at any meeting?” I questioned as the older brunette shrugged trying to look like she didn’t care.

“and why does he let her socialize so much? It hardly seems... No matter. Would you like to do some training?” Gwendolyn questions as Faith stands up looking excited “Training? As in kicking and punching and stabbing?”.

Gwendolyn smiles at Faith “Yes, that’s the idea” Faith nods and cracks her knuckles with a grin “I’m your girl” she suddenly stops and turns to me “Nikki?” she mumbles putting a hand on my shoulder but I was lost in thought about a secret meeting I wasn’t part of.

“Now I know I am not your watcher Nicola but you may join us if you wish?” I looked up to see Faith’s hopeful look and Gwendolyn just smiling at me like a cat “How about it Nicola, would you like to join us?”.

* * *

 

Walking into the library after training with Faith and Gwendolyn who was very interested in my telekinesis I decided to see what Giles and the gang were up to especially since I didn’t want to get into trouble for skipping school.

Looking around the empty library I frowned at the quietness, not that it wasn’t nice for the usual silence but it was just that, unusual. I was expecting at least Willow sitting at the table with her nose in some kind of book.

“Giles?” I called out walking over to the counter as said man slowly makes his way out of the office with a weirdly calm look on his face “Hey G, what’s up” I question leaning against the counter flipping open a random book.

“where is everyone?” I ask another question as my last went unanswered “Nicola, there’s something you should know” Giles began as he looked at me seriously “Oh god, did someone die?” I instantly panicked, no wonder there was no one here, “Oh no, who was it?”.

Giles shushed me and put his hand on my shoulder “breath, remember your breathing” slowing down my breathing I glanced at Giles saddened face “tell me, please” Giles steered, me into his office and sat me down on the couch he had in there “no one is dead”.

I nod wondering what could be so bad that Giles had that expression “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m going to just say it. Angel is back” my heart stopped dead in my chest as Giles slowly lowered down next to me.

Once again I began to feel numb, all the panic attack reducing training gone, the times I’ve spent with Giles trying to build myself back up and patching myself together again, disappearing. I just felt, nothing.

“Nicola?” Giles gently whispered as my eyes gazed down at my clasped hands until Giles placed his over mine and that’s when the room came back, the sounds of blood rushes through my ears stopped “he’s back?”.

Giles nodded silently obviously just sitting back and letting me come to terms with this “How... uh, how do you know that?” I wondered rubbing my hands together meticulously trying to rid them of the dirt I could see there.

“It seems your sister has been sneak off to see him for the past few weeks” if my heart could literally and truly break it would be from those words “My sister did what?” I repeated rhetorically trying to get my head around it.

Giles, however, was silent, and I knew Angel being back wasn’t the only thing wrong here “What is it, Giles?” I whisper not really wanting any more bad news but I knew this was something I needed to hear, Giles had never steered me wrong before.

“Cordelia told Buffy the truth about what happened between Angel and yourself," I let out an angry sob “God, can this day get any worse," I laughed when Giles handed me his handkerchief “don’t answer that,".

The phone rings out and Giles quickly stands stuttering about having to answer it “it’s okay G, I’m fine” Giles nods and moves over to the desk and picks up the receiver “Hello?” Giles goes silent for a moment “Oh Buffy...” my head shoots up wondering what my sister could want “Nikki she’s...” realizing she wanted to find me I quickly and quietly crept out of the room, and out of the library.

* * *

 

Walking into the Bronze Faith notices Xander breaking shot at a pool table and approaches the table “You look pissed” she acknowledged as Xander doesn’t even glance up at her “Rough day” he lines up his shot as she leans on the table “Tell me about it” she mutters as Xander replaces the cue ball.

“Rather just shoot," He shrugs as he aims his cue stick “Don’t think I don’t know what you and your pals were talking about behind mine and Nikki’s back today," The dark hair girl huffed as Xander froze.

“Yeah? And what was that?” he questions as he looks for his next shot “More about this glove deal than you’re saying," Faith shrugged looking at the boy for any more clues “The Glove of Myhnegon? Right," she nods at his words as he aims his cue stick “How d’you like a hit of some real news: Angel’s still alive,".

He takes his shot and starts walking around the table again, looking for his next shot. Faith looks at him in wide-eyed surprise “The vampire” she clucked sucking her teeth wondering if her best friend had any knowledge that the vampire was back.

“Back in town. Saw him myself. Toting the popular and famous glove” Xander explains as he bends down again to take aim for his shot “Angel” Faith repeats as Xander nods “Does Nikki know?” she questions as Xander looks at her frowning “No”.

Faith sighs before Xander continues “but Buffy knows what he did now” Faith once again looks at him wide-eyed as Xander makes another shot and watches the balls ricochet, Faith gives herself a mental to-do list and checking on Nikki was a top priority along with finding the glove.

“Guy like that, with that kind of glove, could kill a whole mess of people. Not to mention what he might do when he sees a certain blonde Slayer," Xander nods quickly looking please someone understood him “Said the same thing to Buffy myself. Weird how she didn’t seem to care," he aims for his next shot.

“Buffy knew he was alive?” Faith asks sounding pissed as Xander takes his shot nodding in affirmative “I can’t believe her” Faith seethed at the elder Summers girl “She says he’s clean” Xander relays as he walks around the table.

“Yeah, well, I say we can’t afford to find out,” She tells him sucking on her cheek in annoyance but now she has Xander’s full attention, “I say I deal with this problem right now. I say I slay” she tells him already thinking of all the ways she could kill the vampire.

“Can I come?” Xander questions as the brunette girl looks at him in shock before nodding making him put down his cue stick and they head out determined to end Angel before he can cause more trouble than he left behind last time.

* * *

 

Buffy watches in horror as the paramedics slam the library doors open with the gurney and turn down the hall. Willow looks at Xander, worried and wanting to know what went down.

Buffy watches until the gurney has disappeared, then also turns to Xander for an explanation. He just gives her a blank stare “What happened?” Xander just sneers at her “Your boyfriend's not as cured as you thought”.

“What makes you think that Angel had anything to do with this?” Buffy questioned shocked “We saw what you saw” Xander shrugged as Buffy hisses annoyed “So you just assume?”.

Feeling like a scolded schoolboy Xander just lifts one shoulder defiantly “I didn't. Faith did” Willow gives Buffy a concerned look “What did you tell her?” Buffy asks sounding very worried.

“Only what everyone knows. She's a big girl. Came to her own conclusions” Buffy clenches her fists trying to control her anger at her friend “How much of a head start does she have?” she questions but Xander doesn't answer her question.

“You know now, everything that he did but you're still going to run in and save him” Buffy just continues to glare “even at the expense of your own sister?” Buffy finally stops glaring but Xander knew she still wanted to know “Ten minutes”.

Buffy steps over to Willow “Go through Giles' research. Figure out how to destroy the glove” She glares at Xander for a second, not believing that he could actually

do such a thing, and then runs from the library.

Running out of the school she began to wonder about everything she had heard today and what to do with that piece of information, how would she act in front of Angel now? How can she even show her face around her own sister anymore?

But what made Buffy feel worse was the feeling of still wanting to be around Angel, despite what she was told he did to her sister, why can't they all see that it was Angelus that did those things, not Angel.

* * *

 

Looking up to Angel's mansion all that was missing right now was a really sad soundtrack and rain pouring down as I stood by the gate wondering if I should go in and confront my nightmares, the thing that has me screaming myself awake.

Despite my inner voice literally screaming at me to run away I decided to push forward and get to the root of my problem and get it over with once and for all, I wanted to get back to the bad-ass in control of her power Slayer not what I am right now, a mess.

Walking into the mansion I frown hearing shouting and screaming, getting closer to the noises I frown at the sight in front of me, both Angel and Miss. Post was on the ground and my two fellow Slayers were fighting viciously.

Seeing Angel again had me so frozen I could do nothing but watch my sister and Faith beat each other down. Buffy is able to throw Faith off with a twist of her body, and both girls end up on the floor.

Faith rolls into a wall, hitting her back against a corner. Buffy scrambles to her feet and runs at Faith, but she snaps out her leg and trips Buffy, making her fall again. Buffy rolls over her back and to her knees.

While she is still crouched, Faith comes in for an axe kick, trying to hit her on the way down. Buffy cross blocks her leg, grabs her ankle and raises her arms, throwing Faith off balance and to the floor.

Faith quickly gets to her feet, and the two Slayers face off once again. Buffy rushes Faith and grabs her by the waist. The two of them go crashing through the French doors out into the atrium.

“The glove! It's in the trunk” Gwendolyn calls out and I look over to see Xander and Willow running into the room “We'll get it” Xander tells her reassuringly but she shakes her head “Help Faith” Xander grabs Willow and they run out the broken door.

Helps Gwendolyn to her feet my eyes darting around looking for Angel but he was still down and out, Gwendolyn makes a beeline for the trunk with the glove with me following her. She throws the lid open and unfolds the rags wrapped around the glove.

Reverently she takes the glove out of the trunk and cradles it in her hands, frowning I watch as she holds into her chest like a baby when she swings the glove around in a wide arc, hitting her me in the face.

Opening my eyes wide I try to get back some of the sense Gwendolyn had just knocked out of me, rolling onto my side I watch as Cut inside. Gwendolyn holds the glove in her left hand and looks down at it.

“Wait!” I call out as she slowly she slides her right arm into the glove. Once it's inside, she makes a fist with the clawed fingers. Suddenly the metal claws surrounding the glove's opening begin closing, puncturing her arm one at a time until all ten have become permanently embedded in her forearm's flesh.

She holds up her gloved arm and smiles maniacally at the sight, seemingly oblivious to the pain. She extends her arm above her, up toward the huge skylight and recites the Gaelic spell that will invoke the power of the glove “Taou huogan maqachte milegaing!”

Gwendolyn stares intently up at the sky, awaiting her reward for being the new wearer of the Glove of Myhnegon. Outside the two Slayers realize their fight is no longer with each other, and let go.

“What's going on?” Faith calls in as I just groan slouching back down with a huff, my head was pounding, Gwendolyn lowers her gloved arm and looks over at Faith as she smiles maliciously “Faith! A word of advice: you're an idiot”.

Gwendolyn once again raises her arm to the sky and utters the words that will call forth the power of the glove “Tauo freim!” looking up I saw a blindingly bright bolt of lightning smash through the skylight and strike the glove.

Shards of shattered glass fall everywhere, but Gwendolyn ignores them and rejoices in her new-found power. She turns to face the Slayers and extends the glove toward them “Tauo freim!”

Jumping up I pushes Gwendolyn's arm so the bolt of lightning missed the girls as they scramble out of the way, and the bolt hits a tree in the atrium, instantly setting it ablaze.

Buffy and Faith look at it in amazement, then turn their attention back to me as I start to back away stiff with fear when the would-be Watcher spins around and aims the glove at me “Tauo freim!”.

Closing my eyes tight I gasp feeling a body hit mine and throwing us both out of the way of the lightning bolt, opening my eyes I feel my chest tighten when Angel’s guilt-stricken face looms over me “I’m sorry” he mumbled to me as I try to move away from him “Don’t touch me”.

Suddenly I’m hit with bad nostalgia saying those exact words and by the look on Angel’s face he was remembering the same thing too “Nikki...” he began as he moved my hair away from my face.

“Please... just leave me alone," I whispered broken trying not to cry “You’re safe with me now, I will do everything to keep you safe," Angel promises but I didn’t care “leaving me alone will keep me safe," I hissed pushing him away.

Another lightning bolt strikes the glove and is sent in the direction of the hallway just as Faith comes running out, her eyes flickered over to me and Angel as she dives behind the couch, avoiding the blast from the glove. 

Gwendolyn holds the glove up before her, staring at it with lustful desire in her eyes “There’s nothing you can do to me now, I have the glove. With the glove comes the power”.

Buffy runs in behind Gwendolyn who was too busy looking at the glove to notice “I’m getting that” Gwendolyn looks over at Buffy in surprise, Buffy throws the shard of glass end over end. 

It flies like a spinning blade at Gwendolyn and slices cleanly through her upper arm, severing it and the glove from her body. With nothing to control it now, the power of the glove becomes erratic, and small bolts and sparks leap from it in random directions.

Another bolt of lightning strikes through the skylight, and not having a target this time, hits Gwendolyn in the chest, with a few small tendrils going in through her eyes she screams at the top of her lungs as her body begins to writhe in pain.

We all watch helplessly as she keeps screaming and the lightning bolts keep coming, a moment later, with one final bright lightning strike, what's left of a one-armed Gwendolyn vanishes in a bright flash of light and energy.

A few small arcs of electricity are all that remain as the last of the energy dissipates, and the mansion is again in relative darkness. Angel and I get to our feet as a cloud of smoke slowly rising upward and the Glove of Myhnegon with Gwendolyn's severed arm still firmly in its grip. One by one the ten claws open up, releasing it.

Backing away from Angel who was stood too close to me I noticed my sister looking over at us as well as everyone else, she opens her mouth to speak to me but I didn't... I couldn't speak to her right now “save it” I hiss walking away leaving the mansion behind.

* * *

 

A knock on Faith’s door the next day ring out in the small motel room “Come in” she calls out awkwardly with her swollen mouth. “Hey” Buffy greets as she walks into the room.

“The place looks nice” Buffy compliments, but the sincerity isn’t entirely there “Yeah, it’s real Spartan” Faith replies sarcastically as the two of them go silent for a moment.

“How are you?” Buffy asks as Faith just huffs “Five-by-five” her usual defensive answer “I’ll interpret that as good” Faith doesn’t respond, but just continues paging through her magazine.

“Look, Gwendolyn Post, or whoever she may be, had us all fooled. Even Giles.” Buffy explains but Faith already had a scathing reply lined up “Yeah, well, you can’t trust people. I should’ve learned that by now,".

“I realize this is gonna sound funny coming from someone that just spent a lot of time kicking your face... but you can trust me," Buffy confesses to the brunette Slayer.

“Is that right?” she replies sounding amused “I know I kept secrets, but I didn’t have a choice. I’m on your side," Buffy expressed now sounding truthful “ _I’m_ on my side and that’s enough," Faith fights back. 

“Not always," Buffy retorts sounding like she knew better “we all need to have each other’s backs. Like Nikki has my back and I have hers, even with all this Angel stuff," she admits a sad tone covering her voice.

“Is that it?” Faith questions simply “Yeah, I guess” Buffy lets out a loud sigh “Alright. Well, then, I’ll see you” the only sound in the room now was the door opening and closing as Buffy leaves.

Another moment of silence happens before Faith’s voice rings out “You can come out now” opening the bathroom door I peeked out to see only Faith in the room “You okay?” she questions as I stand in the doorway looking at the door to Faith’s room.

“5 by 5” I joked flatly as Faith pats the bed next to her, smiling at her I lay down on the bed next to her sighing when I felt her curl around me “I’ve got your back Faith” I whisper as she strokes my hair.

“I got yours too Nikki” Faith affirmed as we lay in silence, neither commenting on the hot tears that were making their way down my face and over Faith’s arm that was cushioned under my head “I’ve got you”.


	9. Lovers Walk

Laying I bed with Beck I frowned noticing he was oddly quiet “what’s up with you?” I question playing with his fingers as he tightens his grip on me “Nothing, it’s just...” he glances down at me as I gaze up at him “nothing”.

I nod as a beat of silence passes between us “so did you get your SAT scores?” Beck asks as I lean down and pick up the folded piece of paper out of my bag that lay on the floor next to Beck’s bed “here” I say handing him the paper as he reads it wide-eyed.

“ _wow_ , those last-minute studies with Red paid off huh,” Beck said with a grin as I shrugged taking the paper back and dropping it on the floor carelessly “it’s no biggie” Beck raises an eyebrow at me and pushes himself up to rest against the headboard.

“No biggie? You’ll have a bunch of colleges wanting to accept you and it’s no biggie?” I shrug again and get out of his pulling my clothes back on trying to avoid his stare, there was no way I could explain to him I was a Slayer and needed to remain in Sunnydale to...  _slay_ … things.

“Let’s not think about that right now. We’ve got my birthday, Prom, Graduation," I began as I sat down on the edge of Beck’s bed as he stared at me looking troubled “My mom wants us to move back to Australia to care of my gran” I stop talking instantly as Beck drops that bombshell on me.

“Nikki?  _Baby_?” Beck calls as I feel blood surging to my ears “ _when_?” I whisper trying to neglect the tears threatening to build up “Next week” I hear Beck gulp sadly like he didn’t want to tell me “how long have you known?” I question stoically “3 weeks” I let out a short bitter laugh as I stood up immediately.

Picking up my bag I placed my dirty clothes, textbooks and other things back in it as Beck tries to grab my hand “but I can stay, I’ll find a place, I’ll get a job” he scrambles as I shove my bag over my shoulder “Uh I gotta get to the library Giles is waiting for me but we’ll talk later” I tell him stiffly as I walk out the door with him calling my name.

* * *

Spike makes his way to his old burned-out factory. The place is a shambles, although the great where Giles started the fire is essentially intact, just scorched. 

Spike strolls through the area, stepping over the strewn chairs while singing a few bars from ‘My Way’ “And more / Much more than this / I did it my way” he belted out loudly as he hops merrily down the stairs to the bedroom in the basement.

“ _Drusilla_! I’m home!” he calls out loud as he reaches the bottom he breaks out into a pathetic fit of giggles which quickly turn to sobs. He sniffs a few times and wipes his nose on his sleeve. 

He sees what’s left of the burned bed and steps up to it, steadying himself on a pillar. In despair, he tosses his liquor bottle onto the bed and steps around the column. 

From there he sees Drusilla’s doll collection that didn’t survive the fire piled on her dresser, all badly scorched. He reaches for one and picks it up. The features on its fine porcelain face can still be made out, but the paint, hair, and dress are long gone. 

Spike stares at the doll intensely “Why did you do it, baby? Why did you leave me? We were happy here” He tries to suppress a sob and shakes it off, and suddenly he’s wearing his game face. 

He roars at the doll angrily and throws it hard down at the concrete floor. He spins around, looking for something to smash it with. He finds a tall iron candlestick, grabs it and wields it back.

“YOU...” he swings the candlestick “STUPID...” he swings again “WORTHLESS...” he takes another swing “ **BITCH**!” he calms down and breaths out “Look what you’ve done to me” He stares down at what’s left of the doll, its delicate porcelain features smashed and scattered, limbs torn and singed then he drops the iron candlestick on top of it.

* * *

Seeing Willow, Oz, Cordy, and Xander stood in a group by Cordelia’s locker I tried to make my way past them without being seen “Hey. So what’s the verdict? Do we bowl?” I heard Xander question Cordelia with a pleading look as I get closer.

Cordelia just sighs and nods “We bowl” Xander pumps his fist and accidentally steps into my line of walking “Nikkster, hey! Do you and Beck wanna go on a group date?” he asked looking excited as the others glanced as me “It’s bowling, we’re all going” Willow adds on looking just as cheerful.

“I would rather _tear out_ my own eyeballs” I muttered moving around Xander and walking off only to hear my name being called “Nikki wait!” I spun to see Cordelia trying to catch up with me as I huffed in annoyance trying to keep the anger and tears in from earlier.

Cordelia’s eyes traced over my face as her hands rested on my shoulders “You look upset” her face soon changes into panic “Oh god, do we need to do the breathing exercises again because I can totally do that” she says as she breathes in a pattern.

A small grin appears on my face “I’m not having a panic attack Cordy” I tell her as she lets go of my shoulders “but thanks” I mumble in appreciation “so what’s wrong?” she asks innocently as I roll my head trying again to calm down.

“You can tell me you know” Cordy smiles at me and I nod knowingly we had become friends since the who Angel thing but I was still me and I hated looking weak, bring up my finger I pointed at her accusingly and a threat was on the tip of my tongue.

“Tell no one or you’ll maim and kill me yadda yadda” Cordelia waved off my usual threat looking at me concerned “spit it out Summers” I sigh clenching my jaw “Beck’s moving back to Australia” Cordelia instantly gasps and grabs my hand in hers “I’m sorry”.

I give her a bitter smile as I pull away “Yeah, me too” I tell her as I turn around and walked away leaving her behind me as I made my way to the library where my sister and Giles were talking, opening the door a little I stopped hearing Giles’ question “Are you planning on seeing Angel?”.

“Yes. Actually, I am” Buffy answers as my stomach tightens angrily “Look, but there’s not gonna be any rash” Buffy pauses getting a look from Giles “Anywhere” she answers defensively.

Buffy sighs and visibly deflates “Okay. We’re, we’re friends. That’s all either of us wants. Nothing’s gonna happen,".

I watch as the two stand in silence before Giles put his hands in his pockets “have you talked to your sister?” Buffy shakes her head slowly throwing her arms up “Giles, Nikki won’t even look at me let alone speak to me, she hasn’t been home in days and mom’s asking questions,”.

“He  _hurt_  her Buffy,” Giles said simply as my twin looks defeated “but it wasn’t  _Angel_ ” she pouted as my fists clenched trying not to scream out in anger, I didn’t want them to know I was spying.

“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I’m uh, uh, afraid that it is still a duck," Giles literates as my sister puts her head into her hands “what do I do Giles?”.

Closing the door I leaned against the door thinking about what I had just heard, my sister knew now what happened but she still wanted to be friends with Angel, maybe it was time I took matters into my own hands?.

Pulling the old red book out of my bag I flipped through the pages and knew If I wanted to take out Angel I needed to practice more “Giles I gotta go” I heard Buffy call as I turned in circles trying to find a place to hide before she saw me. 

Quickly ducking behind the door as she pushed it open I slipped into the library undetected just as Buffy leaves “Oh Nicola” Giles greets in shock as I place my bag onto the table “Buffy just...” Giles started to point towards the door I came through looking confused.

“I wanna practice,” I tell the watcher as he eyes the book I’ve placed in front of him “You know you shouldn’t be forcing it” he explains softly as I take my jacket off “I’m not”.

We had already gone over the basics of my telekinesis; I knew it was anger that triggered it but once anger left my body, my power did too so I needed to learn how to use it constantly.

Squaring my shoulders I look at Giles with a tense jaw “I couldn’t protect myself the first time and I’ll be damned if I’m ever that  _weak_  again,".

Giles watched me for a moment before removing his tweed blazer “are you sure?” he questioned as I rolled my neck cracking it “hit me with your best shot”.

* * *

Willow nervously sits on the edge of Drusilla’s old bed, fidgeting with her hands wondering if her friends had figured out that someone had kidnapped her and Xander. Spike suddenly dumps a box full of supplies on the bed next to an unconscious Xander.

“A spell. For me. You’re gonna do a spell for me," The vampire tells Willow as she gulps "Uh, what kind of spell?” Spike sighs angrily “A  _love_  spell! Are you brain dead?” he goes to the dresser “I’m gonna get what’s  _mine_ ” he grabs a bottle and uncorks it “Teach her to walk out on  _me_ ,".

He takes several good swallows, then looks over at Willow “What are  _you_  staring at?” he growls as Willow averts her eyes “Nothing” she squeaks out “You can do it, right? You can make Dru love me again? Make her  _crawl_!”.

“I-I can try” the redhead stutters until Spike grabs her neck “What are you talking about, trying? You’ll do it!” Willow nods quickly in agreement “Yes, I’ll do it!” He lets go of her and breaks his bottle against a bedpost, he grabs her again and threatens her with the sharp edges.

“You lie to me, and I’ll shove this through your face! You want that?” Willow shakes terrified as tears roll down her cheeks “No...” Spike waves the broken bottle in front of her “Right through to your  _ **BRAIN**_!”

“No, please, no...” He shoves her aside and leans against the bedpost, calming down “She wouldn’t even kill me” he says dropping the broken bottle as he walks around Willow and sits down next to her.

“She just left. She didn’t even care enough to cut off my head or set me on fire," he lets out a sad sniff “I mean, is that too much to ask? You know? Some little sign that she cared?” He pauses for a moment to inhale and exhale deeply.

“It was that truce with Buffy that did it and saving the birdie. Dru said I’d gone soft. Wasn’t demon enough for the likes of her. And I told her it didn’t mean anything, I was thinking of her the whole time, but she didn’t care,". Spike paused looking in a trance.

“So, we got to Brazil, and she was... she was just different. I gave her everything: beautiful jewels, beautiful dresses with beautiful girls in them, but nothing made her happy. And she would fliiirt! I caught her on a park bench, making out with a  _chaos_  demon! Have you ever seen a chaos demon? They’re all slime and antlers. They’re disgusting,"

He looks at Willow’s young face and strokes her silky auburn hair passively making the young girl jump in fear “She only did it to hurt me," he takes his hand off of her “So I said,  _‘I’m not putting up with this anymore.’_  And she said, _‘Fine!’_ And I said, _‘Yeah, I’ve got an unlife, you know!’_  And then she said... she said we could still be friends”.

Spike leans over and sobs on Willow’s shoulder confusing the redhead “God, I’m so  _unhappy_!” Willow tentatively pats his knee “There, there” she supposed she had experience with comforting volatile people because of Nikki’s unpredictable nature and figured comforting Spike would be no different.

“I mean,  _friends_! How could she be so cruel?” Spike wailed as he raises his head and looks at her neck “Mmm. That smell... Your neck...” He leans in to take a better whiff and then leans back, now in his game face “I haven’t had a woman in weeks”.

Willow looks at him and jumps up in fright “Whoa! No! Hold it!” she calls out as Spike also stands “Well, unless you count that shopkeeper," Willow pants with fright “Now, now, hold on! I-I’ll do your spell for you, and, and, and I’ll get you, Drusilla, back, but, but there will be no bottle-in-face, and there will be no ‘having’ of any kind with me. Alright?”.

He grabs her by the neck and looms over her but makes no move to bite her, instead he reverts to his human guise “Alright” he clucks pushing her away “Get started” Willow steps around the bed to where Spike dumped the box of supplies.

“Now, I’m not a real witch, you know. I-I don’t know if this is gonna work right away," Spike sucks on his teeth annoyed “Well, if at first, you don’t succeed, I’ll kill him” he nods at the still unconscious Xander “and you try again,".

Willow looks through the supplies “This isn’t enough” she tells the unpredictable blond vampire “What?” he shouts as he comes toward her “Well, there are other ingredients, a-and a-a-a book. I need a , a spell book. This isn’t it” she answers nervously.

“You’ve got one, though, at home?” Spike questions her as she nods then shakes her head “Not at home. I left it somewhere” Spike gets in her face “ _Where?_ ”.

* * *

Buffy, Cordelia, and Oz walk into the science room and look at the mess left behind “We were supposed to meet in here. I don’t know what could have happened” Cordelia explains as Buffy finds Willow’s botched experiment.

“What is all this stuff? I’m thinking weird science," she questions as Cordelia huffs crossing her arms “Was Willow messing with her magic tricks again? Maybe they disappeared. Maybe she turned Xander into something  _ishy_!”

Buffy looks around dubiously “Whatever happened, there was obviously a fight” the other two looked around the classroom too “I don’t see any blood” Oz mentions as Buffy nods picking up a feather.

“Yeah, either they were taken, or they ran, or maybe...” Cordelia points at the older blonde Slayer “you’re having too many ors! Pick  _one_!” Buffy shrugs with a sigh dropping the feather “I don’t know. We need to find Giles”

“Where is Giles?” Cordy questioned as Buffy looks up at the clock on the wall “Uh, right now he should be at home packing before he leaves for a retreat in the clearing in Breaker’s Woods,".

“Yeah, I know the spot, but it’s like a forty-five-minute drive,” Oz says as the girls look at him “we’ll let’s go and catch him before he leaves," Cordelia exclaims as the three walk out to Oz's van.

Buffy jumps out of the van once Oz stops outside Giles’ apartment and strides towards the door using the spare key that was poorly hidden, opening the door she heads straight in calling Giles’ name before heading for his weapons box when she realized he wasn’t here. 

She is interrupted by the phone and rushes over to the counter to answer it “Hello?” she greets in a rush “Hi, Buffy. I called the library but there was no answer. You girls still working out?” Her mom’s voice called through the phone. 

Buffy sighs and rubbed her eyes “Uh,  _no_ , Mom, actually...” she tried to explain but her mom cut her off sound excited “I was hoping that we could schedule a college talk later tonight. I admit I... overreacted before. You don’t have to go all the way across the country,".

Buffy bit her lip as he mom continued the college talk “I mean your sister won’t even come home now, and she lives here, god only knows if I’ll see her the two of you graduate. I, um, picked up some brochures from some nearby schools for the two of you,  _okay_?”.

“That’s great, but now’s really not a good time...” Buffy spits out until she hears a voice that is not her mothers on the other side “Hello,  _Joyce_ ” Buffy’s eyes widen with recognition and her expression soon turns to horror when she realizes that it’s Spike.

She drops the phone and runs from the library as only a Slayer can, hoping a praying that this was the one day that her sister decided to actually come home.

* * *

Breathing tiredly from my telekinetic sparing session with Giles who immediately left for his retreat once we were done I walked through my front door deciding it was probably a good time to show my face at home once again, dropping my stuff by the stairs I walked through to the kitchen.

“Angel, why don’t you come on in?” I hear my sister say as I push open the door to see Buffy pining Spike to the counter and Angel stepping through the back door “what the  _hell_  Buffy!” I shout as Mom moves to stand by me looking scared. 

Pushing her behind me I glare at all the other occupants in the room “ _Nikki_...” Angel starts as Buffy looks at him sadly before turning back to Spike “You shouldn’t have come back, Spike”.

“I do what I please” Spike grunts as I feel mom grabbing my arm “Okay, I-I’m confused again” she whispers as Spike makes a grab for Buffy’s arm. Angel takes Spike’s arm, yanks it off of Buffy and pins it to the island. 

Buffy grabs a wooden stirring spoon and makes a move to stake him “ _Willow_!” Spike calls out desperately as Buffy’s arm stops above his chest “You took Willow” my sister questions as I feel Angel’s gaze on me again.

“You do me now, you’ll never find the little witch” Spike grins as Mom once again pulls my arm “Willow’s a witch?” I just shake my head and hold her closer “And Xander?” Buffy questions the blond vampire who just grins again “Him, too”.

“What, Xander’s a witch? I...” Mom rambles as Angel grabs Spike by the coat and lifts him off of the island “Where  _are_  they?” Spike shoves Angel off him “Doesn’t work like that, peaches. And when did you become all soul-having again? I thought you outgrew that,".

Spike looks at Buffy “Your friend’s gonna work a little magic for me. She does my spell, I let them both go," I grit my teeth crossing my arms “You’re not famous for keeping your promises,  _Spike_ ”.

Spike glances over at me his face not betraying any emotion as he gave me a once over “and here I thought we had something special  _Birdie_ ," my eye twitched at the nickname as Spike turns back to my sister “Well, you and your great poof here wanna tag along, that’s fine. But you get in my way, and  _you_  kill your friends,".

Mom gasps as Spike walks over towards us and moves out of the way as Spike pushes his way between me and the door frame “Nice seeing you again,  _little bird_ ” he whispered as his face leaned down to mine before leaving.

Controlling my breathing I turned back to my sister who was observing me “What is he doing here?” I questioned fiercely nodding at Angel as Buffy bristled at my tone “After  _everything_  you’re just gonna let him back in?”.

“Nikki,  _please_?” Buffy started as she tried to grab my arms until I held her wrists tight in my grip “Please? That’s all your going to say?  _Please_?” I mocked as my hands tightened on her wrists as she let out a pained gasp.

“ _Stop_ ” Angel muttered placing a hand on each of our shoulders and pushing us apart “Don’t  _touch_  me!” I screamed at the vampire pushing him away from me “You know what he did! You know how he hurt me, he hurt Giles and you just invite him back in like its  _nothing_?” I hiccuped feeling my mom move closer to me again.

“What is she talking about Buffy? What did he do?” Mom stressed as the room went quiet for a moment “You wanna know mom, you  _really_  wanna know?” I challenged hearing Buffy’s breath hitch.

“Nikki... I’m sorry..” Angel pleaded as my sister’s eyes welled up with tears as she begged me with her eyes “He hurt me, mom, tortured me. He’s the reason I’m like this. He’s the reason I was in the hospital and Buffy jumped on a greyhound” I admit in one long breath, feeling numb I turn to my mom as a lone tear slide down my cheek “so now you know”.

Walking away from everyone I turned back to face a sullen looking Angel “Stay away from me, if I see you again i'll kill you and this time you  _won't_  come back”.

* * *

Oz and Cordelia speed along the road to Breaker’s Woods hoping to find Giles “What if they were kidnapped by Colombian drug lords? They could be cutting off Xander’s ear  _right_  now! Or other parts” Cordelia cries out remembering that documentary Nikki made her watch.

Oz sniffs the air and stops the van “ _Hello_?” Cordy questions but Oz sniffs the air some more “It’s Willow. She’s nearby” the redheaded boy explains as Cordelia looks at him confused “ _What_? You can smell her? She doesn’t even wear perfume”.

“She’s afraid,” Oz says simply as he puts the van in reverse and backs up a bit “Oh, my God. Is this some sort of residual werewolf thing? This is very disturbing” Cordy complains looking put out “I really agree” Oz mutters as he puts the van in drive and turns down a side street.

* * *

Buffy kicks the door open and they walk in. There is yellow police tape stretched across the room, separating the counter and the shelves of merchandise from the entry area.

“Your work?” she questions quietly still reeling from what happened back at her house, she yanks down the police tape and tosses it aside “Here’s your list” Spike comments as he hands it to Buffy.

“’Essence of violet, cloves...’ Angel?” the older vampire nods at the Slayer and starts looking “Right” Buffy glances back down at the list “’Set of runic tablets.’ Spike can get the rat’s eyes” She mutters rolling her eyes.

She and Spike also look for ingredients “I used to bring her rats. With the morning paper," Spike frowned with nostalgia making Buffy huff “Great. More moping. That’s gonna get her back,".

“The spell’s gonna get her back," Spike hit back as Angel shrugs “Lot of trouble for somebody who doesn’t even care about you," Spike’s eyes widened as he pointed at his grandsire “ _Shut_  your gob!” Angel didn’t listen “She really is just kind of fickle,".

“ _SHUT UP_!” Spike roared as he runs at Angel, turns him around and punches him in the face. Angel grabs his arm in mid-swing before he can do it again. Buffy grabs him from behind, and between her and Angel, Spike gets thrown back, though he manages to keep his footing.

“What do you know? It’s your fault, the both of  _you_! She belongs with me," He yells before letting out a sad sob “I’m  _nothing_  without her," Buffy glances at the blond vampire in disgust “That I’ll have to agree with. You’re pathetic, you know that? You’re not even a loser anymore, you’re a shell of a loser,".

“Yeah. You’re one to talk” Spike comments as he goes back to looking for stuff as Buffy raises her eyebrow “Meaning?” Spike faces the duo as they look at him annoyed “The last time I looked in on you two, you were fighting to the death. Now you’re back making  _googly-eyes_  at each other like nothing happened. Makes me want to heave," he turns away again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Buffy lied as she tried to brush off Spike’s comments making him laugh “Oh, yeah. You’re just  _friends_ ” Angel huffs getting annoyed too “That’s right” although he knew he and the Slayer would never be ‘just friends’

Spike spins around and faces them “You’re  _not_  friends. You’ll never be friends. You’ll be in love till it kills you both. You’ll fight, and you’ll shag, and you’ll hate each other till it makes you quiver, but you’ll never be friends,".

He points at his temple “Love isn’t brains, children, its blood...” he clasps his chest “blood screaming inside you to work its will," Neither Buffy nor Angel want to hear this and it shows on their faces “ _I_ may be love’s bitch, but at least  _I’m_  man enough to admit it,".

He turns his attention back to finding Willow’s ingredients. Buffy’s eyes almost meet Angel’s, but she quickly averts them. Spike spots what he’s looking for “ _Hmm_!” He grabs the bottle with a smirk “Eye of rat”.

* * *

After borrowing mom's car I drove towards the only place I knew Spike might take Willow and Xander, I couldn't stay home whilst my mom questioned me about what happened. I only told her about Angel to spite Buffy but now it's biting me in the ass.

Pulling up to the factory Spike had taken over before I noticed Oz's van parked outside “ _Ok_  so the gangs all here” I muttered getting out of the car and jogging into the factory listening out for any sign of Cordelia's complaining, that's how we usually get found or seen.

Rounding a corner I see the backs of two people who are huddled together, rolling my eyes I grab Cordy's should making her jump “ _God_  Nikki!” she called pulling me into a hug “I'm so happy to see you here” she admits before pushing me in front of her and Oz “now you lead”.

Rolling my eyes I let Cordelia hang onto me as I lead them through the factory towards the snippets of voices I can here “Down there” I tell Oz and Cordelia as we bound down the creaky stairs to see Xander and Willow curled up together on a bed kissing.

“Oh,  _God_!” Cordelia gasps sounding broken as Willow immediately rolls off of Xander, and they us standing in front of them “Oh, God” Xander repeats in shock as I put my hand on Cordelia's arm.

“Oh, God,  _Oz_...” Willow whimpers as said boy looks at her emotionless “We have to get outta here” Cordelia looking heartbroken runs up the stairs “Cordy, I...” Xander starts as I turn and run after my friend.

Just as she gets just over half-way up, the charred stairs give beneath her running feet, and she falls into the space below “ _Cordy!_ ” I shout as the others scrambles up the steps towards me “ _Cordelia!_ ” Xander shouts moving next to me as we all peered down through the gaping hole.

“ _Cordelia!_ ” I call as she barely moves, just turning her head to look up through the hole “I fell...” she whispers as I look down at her abdomen, where a long piece of rusty iron rebar is protruding from her left side, just under her rib cage.

“Don't move Cordy, I'll get you out” I call to her as I stand trying not to panic as Willow and Xander's previous endeavors are forgotten, at least for now “What are we going to do?” Willow asks me as I bend down by the hole “I'm going down there” I tell her as she looks at me concerned “Be careful”.

I nodded and jumped down next to Cordelia who hold her hand out to grab mine “I'm here Cordy, don't worry” taking off my jacket I place it over here before looking around “we're gonna need some actual experts here, Oz go get some help!” I call up to Oz who nods and takes off.

“what about us? What can we do?” Xander questions as I send him a look “I think you've both done enough” I hiss feeling Cordelia squeeze my hand “Nikki?” she gasps weakly as he eyes rolled around blankly “I can't see you...”

Her head rolls to the side and she exhales “Oh  _god_ , Cordy, wake up!” I shout at the brunette but she doesn't move “ _Cordelia_!”.

* * *

“So Cordelia's gonna be okay?” Buffy asks her best friend as she and Willow walk down the street “She lost a lot of blood. None of her vitals were punctured. They said Nikki did the right thing by not removing the metal bar from her stomach”.

“Has she talked to Xander yet?” Buffy questions as Willow pulls a face and shakes her head “He's gonna see her today” the blonde nods with a grimace knowing her next question “and  _Oz_?”

Willow sighs with a frown “I never knew there was anything inside me that could feel this bad. For the longest time, I didn't know what I wanted. I wanted everything. And now... I just... I just want him to talk to me again”.

“Just give it some time. And be prepared for some groveling” Buffy advises as the redhead nods knowingly “Oh, I'm ready. I'm all  _over_  groveling” Buffy smiles at her friend “Good. Because, you know, I hear sometimes it works”.

“So what are you gonna do about the Angel thing? Now that Nikki's told your mom I doubt you'll be seeing him so much?” Willow guesses as Buffy shrugs, her feelings were all over the place she had no idea what to do.

* * *

Pulling my converse underneath me I shifted in the small armchair next to Cordelia’s bed watching over her as she slept, hearing a knock at the door her eyes open and we both see Xander standing there holding a huge bouquet of flowers.

“Can I come in?” he asks Cordy, but she ignores him so he comes in anyway “Want me to leave?” I asked my friends as her eyes lock onto mine as she shakes her head, glancing at Xander I just shrugged and made myself more comfortable.

“They wouldn’t let me see you until now” Xander explains as he lays the bouquet on the table where she can see them “Those are flowers,” he tells her dumbly as he sits in the chair next to me as Cordelia slowly turns her head to face him.

Trying to look anywhere but at the two of them I began to feel uncomfortable,  _god I hate hospitals,_  but I needed to be here for Cordelia “Look, Cordy, I want you to know that I...”.

Cordelia glances at Xander “Xander?” she says sounding weak causing a smile to grow on Xander’s face “ _Yeah_ ” he answers sounding hopeful until the girl gives him a small tired glare “Stay  _away_  from me”.

She turns her head back to look blankly at the wall as Xander glances at me for help but all I could do was shrug helplessly as he gets up to go. At the door, he looks back one final time, before heading down the hall.

Once he’s gone, Cordelia cries to herself. Slipping off my shoes I climb onto the bed and lay behind her placing my arm over her carefully feeling her push back into my embrace as her body shook from her crying. 

I hated  _hospitals_ , I hated  _feelings_ , but I was a sucker for loyalty and right now as much as we used to dislike each other she needed me “ _Miss. Chase_?” A nurse whispers walking into Cordelia’s room about an hour later, seeing Cordy’s eyes closed she looks at me “Visiting hours are over”. 

Pulling myself from the hospital bed I slipped my shoes back on before walking to the door, looking back at my friends sleeping form I could help but think about the last time I was here and why.

Walking out of the hospital the nights events hit me and I wanted to forget everything, ugh feelings, walking towards the cemetery I figured I could use something to help unleash my anger, after losing my boyfriend, seeing Angel and Spike again, even to Cordelia getting hurt I think I deserved a punching bag for the night.

Walking between headstone I crept further into the graveyard hoping to find someone dead lurking around, Buffy and Faith had probably already been through this area though as it’s their night to patrol “well, well.. the  _baby_  Slayer” a rough voice came from behind me.

Whirling around I raised my eyebrow in disgust “ _baby_  Slayer?” The vampire just laughed at my obvious annoyance of his words “now that’s not nice but don’t worry I’ll  _beat_  some manners into you” I jeered as his face fell at my harsh words as I removed my blood stained jacket.

Getting ready to fight I frown when the vamp suddenly laughs again “Is that right?” I nodded until I noticed a few other vampires appear out of the shadows “how about now” the first vamp laughed as I gritted my teeth.

Throwing my coat at the vampire, catching him off guard, and I give a front snap kick to his gut as he falls immediately to the ground. Another vampire rushes me, and I do a full spinning wheel kick to his face.

A vampire swings at me, but I duck it and punch him in the gut but he recovers quickly and front snap kicks me in the chest, sending me flying onto the floor landing hard on my back. 

Another vampire enters the fray wielding a length of pipe “ _Oh come on_!” I call as he swings it down at me but I roll out of the way picking up a stray rack that had been left propped up against one of the graves, next to a pile of sharp looking sticks.

Shoving it through the chest of the vampire as he thrusts his arms back to swing the pipe at me he quickly turns to ashes “one down, three to go” I call as I spin the rake around in my hands.

My cocky tone soon stops when the remaining three vampires all rush at me, sending me to the floor where they all begin to pummel me. Closing my eyes tightly I send my arm up causing them all to fly in different directions “ _I did it_!” I cheered remembering my lesson with Giles.

Picking up the rake I break it over my knee so both ends are pointy “it’s not Mr. Pointy but it’ll do” I comment as two of the vampires run at me again, jumping and rolling over one’s back I push myself in between the two and thrust the stick side to side staking them both.

Turning back to where the first vampire was now cowering at me “You’re the one with the power” smirking as I once again cockily twirled my makeshift stake as I nodded with a grin “Yep, I’ve got the power”. 

I watch as the vampire gets up and tries to run off before I throw the stake like a javelin hitting him in the back and turning him into dust, looking around at the piles of dust I feel more confident now than I had in months.

“ _Nikki_ ” a familiar voice calls and I suddenly wished I hadn’t thrown ‘excessively big new Mr. Pointy’ at that vamp “ _Angel_ ” I greeted back spinning around to see the depressed vampire watching me from the shadows like a creep.

“please just let me..” Angel began as he walked towards me “i just wanted to say I’m sorry," frowning at the vampire I looked at him incredulous “You’re  _sorry_?” he nodded at my words “Do you even remember what you did because I do,  _even now_ , when I close my eyes at night all I can feel is your hands on me," I hiss at him as he closes his eyes looking upset “my skin crawls just hearing your name,".

“That wasn’t me," He whispered as my face drops “I didn’t have my soul, I was another person, that was  _Angelus_  he was obsessed with you, with  _having_  you. I remember everything too, the feeling of seeing you cry out for help, watching Drusilla trick you, I remember the feeling of my hands on your skin”.

My breath hitched as I tried to push down my nausea as I remembered all those things too “With or without your soul it was still  _you_ ” I argued as my voice wavered, I would not cry because of him again “stay  _away_  from me” I demanded turning away “Wait Nikki,  _please_ ” Angel begged as I felt him grab my arms.

Spinning around, I pushed him away from me before lifting my hand up and sending him across the cemetery “I told you not to  _touch_  me” I said breathing heavily as Angel groaned trying to stand “I told you to  _leave_  me alone” watching Angel stand up slowly “I also told you that if I saw you again I’d  _kill_  you”.

“Angel?” my ears perked up hearing my sisters voice lifting up my hand once again I saw Angel’s eye widen at the array of wooden stakes hovering in the air behind me before his eyes met mine “if this is what you need to do to feel better, then I  _won’t_  stop you”.

“Nikki!  _NO_!” I hear as I smirked at Angel “ _Like you could_ ” throwing my arm forward I growl as Buffy tackles Angel out of the way of the flying stakes all aimed towards his heart, looking around I noticed Xander, Willow and Faith all looking at me in shock.

Buffy got up and stalked towards me opening her mouth to talk I put my hand up towards her “ _Don't B,_  just don't. As long as you're saving him and  _he's_  in your life,  _I won't be_ ” I tell my older sister who looks at me heartbroken as I turn around and walk away.

* * *

Angel sits in the atrium waiting for Buffy to arrive knowing she’d want to talk to him about what happened with Nikki, he knew he shouldn’t have followed the younger Slayer but he just couldn’t stop himself.

When he hears her footsteps he turns to see her step through the makeshift door and stop just inside the atrium “Hey” he stands up smiling softly at the blonde “I was wondering when you were coming”.

Buffy eyed him carefully “I’m  _not_  coming back," Angel just looks at her as she begins to explain “We’re not friends. We never were. And I can fool Giles, and I can fool my friends, but I can’t fool myself. What I want from you I can never have, not after everything. I can’t  _lose_  my sister because of how I feel and you don’t need me to take care of you anymore. So I’m gonna go,".

“I  _don’t_  accept that” Angel comments as Buffy sighs looking at him seriously “You have to” Angel shakes his head “How can...” He takes a step toward her, and she backs away “There’s gotta be some way we can still see each other”.

“There is: tell me that you  _don’t_  love me” Knowing that saying those words would be a lie, Angel instead says nothing “Ok, tell me you can stay away from Nikki? That even with your soul you  _still_  feel the need to be around her” After a long moment, Buffy turns and goes back into the mansion and leaves. 

Angel sits down on the edge of one of the flower beds, staring sadly out into space, she was right, even with his soul Angel was struggling with the feelings he had for Nikki.

It was like someone turned a switch on once he lost his soul and after getting it back the switch didn’t turn off; he wanted to be around the younger Slayer. All those possessive feeling Angelus felt for Nikki he felt them too.

* * *

In Willow’s room the redhead sits on the floor against her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest and her toes pointed inward, staring at her PEZ witch as she idly plays with it.

* * *

Oz sits on one of the pool tables in the Bronze, his guitar in hand, but unable to play as he, too, stares sadly off into space.

* * *

Xander tries to make himself useful re-shelving books in the library. He takes an armful of them into the cage and sorts them onto the re-shelving cart. He stops for a moment, leans against the cart and stares out into the room beyond the cage.

* * *

Cordelia lies still in her bed with her right hand against her temple, stroking herself there as she stares blankly at the ceiling.

* * *

Buffy stands outside Angel’s mansion as she looks at the building she knew so well, wondering whether or not she made the right choice.

* * *

Faith lay in bed mentally cursing Buffy and Angel as she stroked the younger blonde hair as she lay with her head into Faith’s chest sleeping soundly.


	10. The Wish

A pair of green scaly legs firmly planted to the ground as a pair of human legs dangled kicking out from someone pinned high against a tree. The monster makes gurgling noises and low-pitched roars as Buffy is being held against the tree by her neck. 

Buffy yells out desperately "Nnnrrf! Nnnrrf!" Nearby a picnic table Xander is just coming to having been knocked around by the monster, at the table, Willow frantically searches through their bag of demon-killing implements "Oh, God! Demon! Demon! What kills a demon?!"

Buffy struggles with the monster's hand at her neck, but can't get it to budge and has a hard time breathing "Nnnrrf! Nnnrrf!" Willow still searching through the bag suddenly understands "Oh, Nerf! Not Nerf. Knife!".

She finds a knife and runs with it to Buffy's aid. She tosses the knife to Buffy, who blindly grabs it from behind out of mid-air and stabs the monster in the chest. The monster immediately falls over dead, taking Buffy down with it. 

Willow and Xander help her up as Buffy sighs with relief "Okay. That was too close for comfort. Not that slaying is ever comfy, but... you know what I mean?" she takes a deep needful breath "If you guys hadn't been here to help..."

Willow grimaces at her best friend knowing the dangers of Slaying "But, we were, and we did, and, and we're all fine" she looks down at the monster and tilts her head thoughtfully "Isn't he gonna go poof?" Xander and Buffy both look at the monster confused before the latter shrugs "Mm, I guess these guys don't. We'll have to bury him or something. Uhhf...".

They all walk over to the picnic table wary from the new monster "Makes you appreciate vamps, though. No fuss, no muss" Buffy sits cross-legged on one end of the table, Xander sits on the other and Willow sits on the bench below and between them and grabs a drink.

"So how come Faith was a no-show? I thought mucus-y demons were her favorites," Xander questions as he munches on a snack "Couldn't reach her... again. She hasn't been hanging out much" Buffy shrugs reaching for a snack.

Xander eyes his blonde friend "I detect worry," Buffy shrugs her shoulders "A little bit. Slaying's a rough gig. Too much alone time isn't healthy. Stuff gets pent up," she munches the snack as Willow pipes up "We should try to do more socializing with her".

Buffy looks at Willow with a small pout "Mm I tried but I get the feeling she only has room for one blonde Slayer in her life," she half-joked talking about her twin sister "She still choosing Nikki to Slay with?" Xander asks as Buffy nods quickly "like I get they're friends but now it just seems like Nikki doesn't want to hang with me anymore".

The three of them are quiet until Xander pats his legs "Well, burial detail aside, does this cap us off for the day?" Buffy glances at him questioningly "You got plans?" The dark head teen laughs sarcastically "I cannot stress enough how much I  _don't_ have plans".

Both girls grimace at his tone "No luck reaching Cordelia?" Buffy asks gently knowing how many voice-mails he was leaving his ex-girlfriend daily "I've left a few messages. Sixty... Seventy... But you know what really bugs me?" he looks at Willow "Okay, we kissed. It was a mistake. But I know that was positively the last time we were  _ever_  gonna kiss".

Willow nods quickly in agreement "Darn tootin'!" Xander gestures wildly "And they burst in, rescuing us, without even knocking? I mean, this is really  _all_  their fault" Buffy rolls her eyes at her friend's dramatics "Your logic does  _not_  resemble our Earth logic".

Xander shrugs as he continues to snack "Mine is much more advanced" Buffy smirks as she lets out a soft laugh "and it's times like his I can see why Nikki has trouble not hitting you" Xander just pouts at the Slayer's words.

"I just don't get it, Nikki hated Cordelia when she moved here and now they best buddies?" Xander questioned looking put out "Cordelia was there for Nikki after Angel tried to..." Willow stopped and looked at Buffy who looked sad.

"Have the two of you ever talked about that...  _thing_?" Willow asked gently as Buffy shook her head "Giles told me  _not_ to, Mom still  _doesn't_ know and Nikki  _won't_ even talk about Angel without threatening to kill him... I wish she would understand that Angel wasn't himself without his soul".

The other two teens looked at each other carefully but said nothing, both not sure if they agreed with their Slayer friend's logic, until Nikki wanted to talk about it they wouldn't say anything about the topic that everyone was avoiding like the plague. 

"At least tomorrow's Monday, another school day," Willow said trying to shift the conversation from the topic she had started "Well, that's good. You know, focus on school. That's the strong Willow way to heal" Buffy nodded to herself sounding positive for her best friend.

" _Actually_ , I was more thinking Oz will be there, and I can beg for forgiveness," Willow explains with a small smile as Buffy nods slowly "That works, too" Willow sighs knowing that look "I-I wanna be strong Willow. But then I think I may never get to be close to Oz again, and it's like all the air just goes out of the room".

Buffy frowns thinking about what Willow had said "I know the feeling," she lets out a sigh as Xander looks at her knowingly "Right. I mean, you went through it with Angel, and you're still standing. So tell us, Wise One, how  _do_ you deal?".

Buffy now smiles as she looks at the two friends she didn't have in Hemery back when Slaying was hard and lonely "I have  _you_ guys".

**††††††**

Cordelia sits alone in her room with the lights low. She has a picture of Nikki, herself, Xander, Willow and Buffy all with their arms around each other, and is cutting each person off with a straight vertical cut, leaving only herself and Nikki connected.

She lets the pieces fall into a bowl on a breakfast tray, picking up the now smaller picture of her and Nikki placing it back into her photo-box. In the background, her answering machine plays back her messages.

_"Hey, it's Xander. If you get this, call me"._

Taking the scraps of Willow and Buffy she throws into a bowl carelessly as the last part of the picture left in her hand is of Xander, and she cuts diagonally right through his face.

_"Hi! Xander. I, uh... Well, I'm in if you feel like calling. Bye"._

Cordelia's eyes and cheeks are heavy with tears, she never knew someone like Xander Harris would be the source of her pain but he was. She sighs heavily, takes a match and strikes it before she lights Xander's part of the picture.

_"Hi, Cordelia. Um... If you get the chance, if we could talk, I'm here"._

She drops the lit piece into the bowl and holds the match to the others. They all suddenly burst into flame. The light of the flame shows just how tired, slagged and haggard Cordelia has become.

_"Hey again! It's me. I'm here. Again"._

She watches as the flames consume the image of Xander but none of it makes her feel any better; it doesn't make the pain go away.

Slamming my locker shut I turn around and bump into Willow who was nervously playing with her hands but made no move to talk "Sup Will" I said as the redhead gave me a small smile I notice her eyes are getting watery "are you still my friend" she asks sounding like a scolded child.

Placing my hands on her shoulder I gave her a firm but comforting smile "Of course I'm your friend Willow" she gave me a bright smile "But.." her smile diminishes as I continue on "I'm really disappointed in you, I never thought it would be you to do something like that".

Willow nods as her shoulder drop in defeat "I know," she muttered as I sighed heavily  "Remember when we caught them kissing for the first time and you ran to the bathroom crying brokenhearted?" Willow looks up at me in surprise "Imagine how Cordy is feeling right now".

Giving Willow a small pat on the shoulder I move past her only to find Xander in my path "not now Harris" I grumble hitching my bag up higher on my shoulder as I almost stop to let him talk but thought better of it and kept on moving.

Walking towards the quad I hear the horrible sounds of preppy laughter, shivering internally I rounded the corner to see Harmony and her fleet of brainless minions stood with Cordelia who looked beaten down "I'm pretty sure he won't cheat on you. At least not for a while. Plus, he's got a killer moped".

Stepping closer I noticed Jonathan sitting on the steps looking up at Cordelia sympathetically "Harmony you have the rest of your life to be a jerk, why not take today off?" I say to the blonde girl who was now looking at me speechless like she was trying to think of something to say "Oh god just go...".

Harmony huffed and swung her long hair over her shoulder before stomping away with her groupies following her, looking down at the dumbfounded boy I gave a short nod "Jonathan" he lifted his hand and waved.

Putting my arm across Cordy's shoulder I steered her away "So... that went well" dropping my arm I nudged my friend as she remained frozen "breath Cordy" she looked at me gratefully when we stopped in the middle of the hall "thanks, I had nothing to say to her, I am the queen of combacks and I blanked".

"I'm pretty sure I'm the queen of comeback Cordy" I grin at her before gasping "Oh and sarcasm" I laughed and turn only to see Xander at the end of the hall when he spots us he stops "shit" Cordelia looks for a way to turn this to her advantage, and pulls an old boyfriend out of the crowd "Hey, John Lee. Do I have something caught in my teeth?".

Quickly drinking from the water fountain, I use it as an undercover disguise as I watch for Cordelia's revenge I turn slightly to see her smile to expose her teeth and angles her head up so he can see. She shifts her head back and forth, and John Lee dutifully follows her movements. 

Xander soon gets the message and heads into the cafeteria. When Cordelia sees he's gone, she steps back from John Lee "So... What's new? God, it's been, like, a gazillion years!" Cordelia exclaims to the jock.

"Look, the guys are kinda down on me lately. Coach has cut me back to second string. If anyone saw me hanging with Xander Harris' castoff on top of that... Death, you know, but... maybe... If you wanna go someplace private..." John Lee says attempting to sound seductive.

Straightening up I notice Cordelia looking surprised to find the tables turned "What?" I wince at her tone "Think about it" John Lee leaves promptly but not before giving me a quick wink making me curl my lips in disgust.

And just like that Cordelia had become a social leper, the once queen bee is nothing more than... well nothing "Ouch, painful" I mumble as she starts back down the hall, and is startled when a blonde girl bumps into her.

She smiles at widely at us "Hey," Cordelia just huffs and rolls her eyes "Go ahead. Dazzle me with your oh-so-brilliant insults. Just join the club," The girl just looks at Cordelia stunned "Hardly. Uh, actually, I've been looking for you. Ever since we met this morning, I was, like, thank God there's one other person in this town who actually reads W".

Cordelia gives me a subtle shocked before turning back to the new girl "But Harmony..." The girl just shrugs carelessly "Oh, she follows me around. If that girl had an original thought, her head would explode".

I snorted at her words making her turn to look at me with a friendly smile "I'm Anya Emerson. Nice verbal hit back there" I just nod not realizing she had been there, but I was often oblivious to new people when I was on a mission to destroy preppy bitches "Nikki Summers".

"Is that Gucci?" Cordelia questions once she notices Anya's pendant "Um... no. It's an actual old thing, sort of a, um... good luck charm my dad gave me" I glance at her pendant and frown at the gaudy looking necklace.

"Hm, all my dad ever gave me was an evil stepmother and daddy issues," I said with a grin noticing Anya's mouth curve up into a small smirk "Too bad I didn't have one of those pre-Xander," Cordelia said nodding towards Anya's 'lucky," pendant.

"Can I just say... Men" Anya huffed as the three of us started down the hall "Second it" Cordelia agreed with a nod "Yeah... men," I mutter with no real force thinking about Beck, the one guy I liked and was currently avoiding.

"Apart from being without class, the guy's obviously blind. Deserves whatever he gets," Anya tells Cordelia who just shrugs "I'm not even thinking about him. I am past it. I am living my life".

I smile and nudge my friend as she tries to piece herself back together "Still, I mean... Don't you kinda wish..." Anya begins but Cordy interrupts her quickly "I don't wish. I act. Starting now, Xander Harris is gonna get a bellyful of just how over him I am". 

* * *

_Somehow_ Cordelia had managed to drag me to the Bronze with her, which coincidentally was the same place, Xander, Willow, and my sister was also hanging out. Faith had asked me to chill out with her tonight but apparently my other brunette friend needed a  _wing woman_.

Cordelia, Anya and I are at the bar, dressed sexily, which is exactly how Cordelia told us to dress when she called me after school to ask... well  _demanded_ for me to go to the Bronze with her. Cordy, Anya and I are all dressed in similar short dresses each in a different color.

I huff as Cordelia pretends to have a great conversation with some guy as his friends hit on Anya and me, the former looking bored and almost offended at the boys’ attention.

Behind us sitting on the couch beneath the stairs, Willow and my sister look glum, while Xander pretends to be having fun, forcing himself to laugh. I notice him glance at Cordelia before looking back at Willow and Buffy and lets out gales of laughter. 

Zoning in an out I practically ignore the guys in favor of people watching, not that I don’t  _like_ their attention but I was already in deep with Beck after catching  _feelings_ for him, I needed no more boy drama right now.

I smile watching Cordelia use the old pushing the guy’s shoulder with a flirty giggle trick but I knew she was only doing it because we were being watched right now, catching Anya’s eye I smirked as she rolled them at me jokingly.

“Well, as  _fun_ as this is I’ve gotta go," Anya speaks up “aw,  _really_?” Cordy questions as the blonde nods her head and grabs her purse “I uh, promised my dad I would be home early” she blurts but soon smiles at us “I’ll see you guys tomorrow”.

Cordelia grabs Anya in a small hug and they kiss each other’s cheeks “Bye” I just smiled and nod to the girl as she smirks at me already knowing my preference to not being hugged or kissed...  _or touched in general._

As she goes a boy bumps into Cordy, jostling her wound “Hey  _watch_ it!” I growl at him as she puts her hand over it “Come on let’s get you some fresh air” I say as Cordelia holds onto my arm letting out a pained sound as we moved to the back door.

“Hey, wait a second” Cordelia and I both stop hearing my sister’s voice “hey B” I greet as Cordelia lets go of my arm to face my sister “Did Xander send you to beg for him? Because if he did...”.

Buffy shakes her head adamantly “No. I’m a free agent, I promise. I just wanted to see how you are” Cordelia gives Buffy a bitter smile “Never been better” she turns and starts to leave.

“Cordelia, I know what it’s like to be hurt by someone," Cordelia turns slowly to face Buffy again “Hurt so much that you don’t think you’re gonna make it. But I told my friends how I felt, and you know what? It got a little  _better_ ”.

Suddenly a vampire jumps down behind Buffy and swings at her head, but she middle blocks it and punches him in the face which sends him to the pavement on his side and Buffy punches him in the face while he’s down.

She reaches for his shirt and yanks him back up to his feet “Stay back” I tell Cordelia who nods at me hurriedly still holding her tender wound. Suddenly another vamp joins us and I jump into action.

Blocking both of his punches I bring my knee up into his gut making him double over, I quickly carry on the momentum and deliver an uppercut to his chin knocking him backward “Aww come on Snowflake, at least hit me once” I mock as the vamp lets out a dazed growl.

He staggers backward two steps but keeps his footing. He advances and does two roundhouse kicks, which I low block. He quickly jumps on me with a roar “Bitch!” he growls at me as I struggle with him.

Looking around for a weapon I notice a sharp metal pole in the pile of rubbish next to us, getting my feet in between us I kicked the vampire up and off me. Bringing my arm up rapidly the metal soars into the vampire’s chest as he looks down at me dumbfounded "Oh shit" He quickly turns to ash.

Letting my head drop to the concrete I watch as the vampire Buffy’s fighting try to punch Buffy but she ducks it and rises back up to deliver a roundhouse kick to his side. This sends him stumbling backward right at Cordelia “Cordelia, look...”

Cordelia has no time to react and gets knocked into a pile of garbage “... out” Buffy finishes as the brunette girl lets out a shocked grunt “shit, Cordy!” I swear getting up to run over to her.

The vampire gets back up to his feet and picks me up before throwing me through the air, my back hits the side of a wall and I drop to the fall harshly “Damn it” I hiss looking back up in time to see Buffy flip him over onto his back. 

She pulls out her stake and jams it home making the vampire bursts into ashes, getting back up with a groan I walk over to Cordelia and carefully pick her up out of the garbage “are you okay?” I question as she looks troubled.

Behind us I hear the laughter of a group of girls, Buffy quickly tosses aside her stake, as Harmony and her friends walk by, looking Cordelia over and keep laughing as they go. 

Noticing the banana peel hanging off Cordy’s shoulder I quickly pick it off her and throw it in the pile as the girls continue to laugh mockingly. After they’ve gone, Cordelia spins around to look at my sister and if she could spit fire, I think she would be right now.

“You know what I’ve been asking myself a  _lot_  this last week? Why me? Why do  _I_  get impaled? Why do  _I_  get bitten by snakes? Why do  _I_ fall for incredible losers? And you know, I think I’ve finally figured it out, what my problem is? It’s you!”.

Buffy glances at me like I had some sort of answer for her, Cordelia huffs out a broken laugh and walks away “Cordy wait” I call but she just puts her hand out to stop me “I just want to be along right now, please Nikki”.

Watching her limp away I let out a sigh as my sister stood by my side “What do we do?” I shrug at her empty words “I don’t think there is anything we can do, B”. Turning around I started in the other direction “Where are you going?” Buffy called after me.

“Home” I mutter back to her as I crossed my arms regretting letting Cordelia talk me into wearing this dress, luckily for me the walk home wasn’t really that long and I was way too far into my thoughts that it made the journey seem short.

As I walked through the door I notice my mom’s head peek around the corner “Ah there’s my youngest child” she smiles until she notices my face “are you okay?” I nod sitting on the arm of the couch “me? For once I’m the okay one”.

Suddenly the shrill ring of the house phone sounded and my mom picked up the receiver “Hello?” waiting for her to finish I take off my shoes “Oh Beckett” I jump up when my mom’s voice lightens up.

“Sweetie it’s Beck,” mom says holding the phone out to me, picking up my shoes I slowly back away “Tell him I’m not feeling well,” I say as she relays my message before following me to the stairs.

“What’s going on Nicola?” She questions in her mom voice I stop on the stairs “You never pass up the opportunity to talk to Beck” tears filled my eyes, but I didn’t turn to her “we broke up” I tell her simply as I carried on the ascent to my room.

“is there anything I can do?” My mom questions genuinely as I think about it “No” I mutter opening my door and softly closing it behind me placing my head on the cold wood, feeling lost “I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do”.

* * *

After a night of night terrors and insomnia, I walk beside Cordelia and Anya as the former tells her recollection of her night including her fall into the garbage pit but minus how she really got there.

“... Buffy Summers. That’s when all my troubles started” Cordelia winces in pain and holds her side “When she moved here” Cordy glances at me “no offense” I huffed a laugh shaking my head with a smile.

“Are you okay?” Anya questioned looking concerned but Cordelia waves her off “Oh, I just pulled some stitches last night. Know why?” she glares in my sister’s direction "Surprise It was Buffy’s fault”.

Anya follows Cordelia’s gaze and sees Buffy and company sitting on a bench “not 100% sure it was.. yep okay” I stop seeing her face, her feud with Buffy was not something I wanted to get myself involved in.

Harmony soon interrupts us with an evil smirk on her face “Oh, hey, it’s Garbage Girl. Loved the look last night, Cor. Dumpster chic for the  _dumped_ ” She and her troop rudely giggle as Cordelia looks down in embarrassment. 

Glaring at the superficial blonde idiot I gritted my teeth “Did your brain take a laxative because there is a lot of shit coming out of your mouth,  _Harm_?” I sneer her name as she gasps making the other idiots follow her lead.

“ _Aww_ , what’s the matter can’t give as good as you get? Did I upset you,  _princess_? That’s a  _shame_. I’ll pencil in some time to cry about it later," Getting yet another annoyed scream from her she pushes her way through our small group.

Seeing Cordelia’s broken expression Anya takes her pendant off “Here. I think you need this more than I do right now” I frown wondering how an ugly necklace would help Cordelia out of her own personal hell.

Cordelia lifts her hair away from her neck and lets Anya put it on “ _Yeah_ , I can use some luck," she eyes Buffy still looking annoyed “And a stick with pointy, sharp bits. If that Buffy wasn’t... I swear. She’s a pain”.

“But Xander, he’s an utter loser. Don’t you wish...” Anya begins but Cordelia shakes her head “I never would’ve looked twice at Xander if Buffy hadn’t made him marginally cooler by hanging with him”.

“Really?” Anya questioned as she too looks over at my sister who was paying no attention to us “Yeah, I swear! I  _ **wish**_ Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale”.

Anya suddenly turns back to Cordelia, who gasps to see that her face has suddenly become very wrinkled and raw-looking, she has an evil smirk on her face and a dark look in her eyes “ _ **Done**_ ”. 

* * *

Cordelia looks around her. Anya and Nikki are gone. Buffy, Willow, and Xander are not sitting at the bench anymore. There are far fewer students in general. The place is, in fact, rather a mess. Garbage and palm leaves are strewn about the quad.

“Anya? Nikki?” Cordelia calls out to her only two friends, but they were both strangely absent, suddenly she notices that she no longer has her injury. Anya’s pendant, however, is still around her neck. Slowly she begins to figure it out.

“ _'I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale._ ’” Cordelia smiles to herself “She was, like... a good fairy. A  _scary_ , veiny... good fairy” she smiles again gleefully as she almost squeals.

She laughs as she heads into the halls and just like outside, there are far fewer students inside. Everyone is dressed in dark and drab clothing. Cordelia is the standout in her bright turquoise dress.

 She sees Harmony and her friends at her locker, and hesitates remembering their last encounter, Harmony closes her locker and sees her “Where have you been?!” the blonde calls as she approaches Cordelia, and her friends follow. 

Cordelia gives them a careful smile “Ted Chervin just totally went for third with Ginger in front of everybody” Harmony informs her as one of the girls gives her a friendly smile “Love the dress. It’s so daring” Harmony nods in agreement.

John Lee walks up to them smiling flirtatiously “Cordelia," Cordy glances at him wondering what he had to say “ _Yeah?_ ” he pulls her aside “Look, every guy on campus has probably asked, but if you’re not going to the Winter Brunch with anyone, I’d be honored, and we’d have fun”.

Cordelia considers her response back to queen bee mode “I’ll get back to you” John Lee grins widely “Really?” Cordelia smiles at him happy to be back on top of the food chain once again “Yeah”.

“Great!” He heads down the hall, a happy man. Harmony steps over to her “ _Cordy_ , you reign!” she says almost dreamily as if she wishes she were Cordelia “ _I do?_ I mean, I do. So what’s with the Winter Brunch thing?”

* * *

“Alright. Now, don’t forget, tomorrow we have our, uh,  _monthly memorial_ , so, uh, there’s no class” the teacher informs the class before he rushes out of the room. The students also make a point of getting out of there quickly “What’s the rush?” Cordelia asks seeing her friends quickly packing up their things.

“Oh, you know, my mom hates it when I’m late” Harmony tells Cordelia rolling her eyes “Since when? Aren’t we going out tonight?” she questions getting up as a Cordette gives her a confused glance “Curfew starts in an hour”.

“ _Curfew?_  Come on, I’m in a really good mood! Let’s go to the Bronze!” Harmony and her friends all stop and give Cordelia a disbelieving look “Is that a  _joke?_ ” she questions with a disgusted look.

Cordelia just nods like she missed something “ _Oh!_ The Bronze isn’t cool in this reality. I’ve gotta make these little adjustments” She smiles as Harmony and Cordette exchange looks.

“Cordy, what’s with you? I mean, you wear this come-bite-me outfit, you make jokes about the Bronze, and you’re acting a  _little_ schizo," Harmony claimed looking troubled at her friend.

“You’re right. I just... Well, I bumped my head yesterday, and I keep forgetting stuff. Not that I care, but Xander Harris, he’s miserable, right? And that Willow freak he hangs with, not even a blip on the radar screen, right?” Cordelia babbles with a smile hoping Xander and Willow are both suffering in this universe.

Harmony gives Cordelia a look of pure confusion “Well, yeah. They’re dead” Cordelia’s smile fades, not at all sure how she feels about that, Harmony rolls her eyes and leaves the room with Cordelia running after her “Wait, what about Nikki?...  _Where’s Nikki?_ ”.

Harmony turns to her friend with a raised eyebrow and Cordelia knew she wasn’t going to like the words that left her on and off again, frenemies mouth “ _Who?_ ” 

* * *

The Sun Cinema is closed. The last shop pulls a metal gate across its storefront. The street is dirty. A smashed car just sits in the middle of it. In the distance, Cordelia can hear sirens and screams as she walks along. 

Suddenly Xander appears in front of her, wearing only a white T-shirt and black leather jacket and pants. She startles and stops short “Well, whadaya know? Cordelia Chase” his voice seems different now, smoother more confident.

“What is this? Some kind of  _sick_ joke? Harmony told me you were  _dead_ ," Cordelia cried out as Xander shrugs and plays her game as he tries not to grin “Now, why would she say something like that? Let’s think”.

Cordelia stops him before he could say anything else “Listen to me. We have to find Buffy or Nikki. They’ll figure out a way to save us. They were supposed to be here, and as much as it  _kills_ me to admit it... things were better when Buffy was  _also_ around”.

Xander glances at Cordelia his eyebrow raised “Buffy? The Slayer?” Cordy just rolls her eyes dramatically still not realizing the danger she was in “ _No!_  Buffy the dog-faced girl!  _Duh!_  Who do you think I’m talking about?”.

“ _Bored now_ ” Willow voice drones out as she slowly walks up to them, she is also dressed in black leather but the bodice of her outfit is trimmed in red lace “This is the part that’s less fun. When there isn’t any screaming”.

Cordelia looks between the two of them confused “What’s  _up_ with you two and the  _leather_?” Willow faces Xander slowly “Play now?” the teen sighs and looks at his redhead companion “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your appetite, Will, but I thought we agreed it was  _my_ turn”.

Willow whines and brushes her hand against Xander’s chest “No. No! No way! I wish us into Bizarro Land, and you guys are  _still_ together?! I cannot win!” Cordelia cries out as Xander looks at her “Probably not” he vamps out suddenly showing his true colors “But I’ll give you a head start”.

Cordelia gasps distraught and afraid “ _No!_ ” She drops her bag and runs as Willow smirks happily “I love this part” They kiss passionately with lots of tongue before Xander turns his attention to the chase “You love  _all_ the parts”.

Willow follows at a walk as Xander runs after Cordelia. He jumps up, runs over the smashed car and jumps down behind her, grabs her by the neck and throws her down to the street roaring at her as she screams terrified.

“No fun. She isn’t even putting up a fight” Willow moans as she pouts up at Xander, the brunette on the floor looks fearful of her two formal friends when someone begins to walk out of the shadows.

“Do you two  _always_ have to play with your food” A smooth, confident voice rings out as the two vampires’ heads drop submissively at whoever was walking towards them. Cordelia suddenly gasps again but this time it wasn’t from fear “ _Nikki?_ ” she exclaims as her friend struts over to them her face void of any recognition.

Cordelia looked her friend over, she had dark brunette hair and her usual confident stance but what confused her most was they way Willow and Xander seemed to be scared of her; they looked like two petulant children being scolded by their mother.

“Hello  _human_ , do I know you?” Nikki grinned showing off her pearl white teeth “Why are you with them, you’re a  _Slayer_ and they’re vampires?” Cordy questioned as Nikki lets out a loud mocking laugh.

“I’m sorry little  _human_ but you have the wrong person” Her face suddenly morphs into something terrifying and her eyes beam yellow as she leans in closer to Cordelia “ _I’m much better_ ”.

Suddenly a van comes screeching around the corner “Aw, swell. It’s the White Hats” Nikki lets out a pissed growl as the van screeches to a stop next to Cordelia, and Giles jumps out with a large cross in hand to ward them off.

They have to back away “That’s  _not_ nice Rupert” Nikki hisses as the humans all jump “Oh god, it’s  _you_ ” Giles stutters out in his accent voice as Oz has a crossbow trained on them. 

Two others jump out of the sliding door, one with a stake held ready, the other with another cross “I’ve got them! Get the girl!” Cordelia is quickly helped into the van as Xander and Willow growl angrily as they watch their prize being stolen from them. 

Once Cordelia is safely inside, Giles hops back in “I’ll be coming for  _you_ librarian” Nikki laughs manically as he slams the doors shut and they take off “Let’s go” Nikki orders the two vampires who dutifully nod their heads and follow her back to the hideout.

* * *

They lay Cordelia out on the large center table her having passed out in the back of the van from shock “How’s she doing?” Oz questioned as Giles looked the poor girl over she’d had a rough night “Her pulse is strong”.

“What was she doing wearing  _that?_ Everyone knows that vampires are attracted to bright colors," Nancy implored glancing down at the happily colored clothing the popular girl was wearing.

“That’s  _Cordelia_. It’s better to look good than to feel alive” Larry attests knowingly as Giles shakes his head “we shall talk with her when she wakes," he tells the teens scratching his head.

“I can’t believe  _Nikki_ was there” Larry begins as he stands next to Oz “She the one vampire I never want to run into” he finishes with a grimace on his face as Nancy crosses her arms nodding in agreement “She’s definitely a different level of vampire”.

“Uh, go and, uh, watch the perimeters in case they follow” Giles instructs them as it too left him feeling unsettled seeing the usually vicious brunette vampire, he was just glad they had made it out in one piece.

* * *

Music blares loudly as Xander, Willow and Nikki approach the club. A couple of the vampires standing outside feast on fresh victims caught out after dark. The three of them go into the club and check out the happenings inside. 

There are several cages containing terrified humans suspended a few feet from the floor as Willow as Xander lap up the attention of the club Nikki moves through the building swiftly and stoically.

Willow reaches into one of and strokes a victims cheek, the man recoils making Willow laugh. Xander and Willow follow Nikki’s lead as they head toward the back of the club, past the pool tables where a vampire has a wayward biker tied to all four corners. 

Xander runs his hand across the man’s chest “Slap my hand, dead soul man” he grinned at the vampire as they shake hands, Nikki rolled her eyes at his attitude as they continue into the back, sometimes it was hard to be around these two without killing them herself.

Seeing the brunette vampire walking closer a guard vampire holds the curtain aside for them to enter, Nikki winks at him with a smirk across her red lips giggling when he was visibly affected. 

When he sees them come in, the Master rises from his throne happily. His three favored vampires come to stand before him, leaving them behind her Nikki took her place in her usual seat, on the right-hand side of the Masters.

The older vampire gave Nikki a fatherly embrace before she sat down in a smaller throne similar to her sires, The Master turns to smile at the other two vampires in his presence “Ahh. Xander... Willow... Hungry?”.

He grabs a girl by the hair and lifts her by it, the girl remains silent with fear but keeps her eyes fixed on the Master as he eyes her with disgust “I’ve lost my appetite for this one. She keeps looking at me. I’m trying to eat, and she  _looks_ at me”.

He notices Willow’s desire for a kill and turns the girl’s head toward her “Go on!” he coos as Willow smiles up at Xander, who gives her a look of approval. She turns back to the Master and vamps out. 

The Master shoves the girl over to her, Willow catches her in her arms with her head laid back and bites her hard. Xander, as always, is impressed with her zest for a fresh drink.

“I remember that lust for the kill” he sits back down on his throne crossing one leg over another “Now... What news on the Rialto?” Xander faced the older vampire who looked up at him patiently. 

“Had a prime kill. An old crush, actually, till that wannaslay librarian showed up” Xander informed as Nikki’s eye twitched, that damn librarian was always getting in our business.

“He’ll be dealt with soon enough,” The Master waved it off as Willow comes back to Xander’s side, licking her fingers “Weird thing: girl kept talking about Buffy. ‘Gotta get Buffy here.’” The Master sat up straighter at the boy’s words “Isn’t that what  _they_ called the Slayer?”.

Xander’s eyes meet Nikki’s questioningly “ _Your_ Slayer?” Nikki rolled her eyes at his words, if Buffy was here  _he’d_ already bed dead,  she knew her sister couldn’t kill  _her_ , she’d had so many chances before.

Willow strokes his chest “Hmm. Buffy.  _Ooo_. Scary” she drawls as Xander gave her a small grin his eyes never leaving The Masters “Someone has to talk to her people. That name is striking fear in nobody’s hearts”.

Nikki grinned as she leaned forward at Xander’s words “Her  _people_ are a little indisposed right now but I bet if you dig up their rotting corpses they’d be happy to talk about how  _affected_ you are by their child’s name”.

The Master stands up looking annoyed holding his hand out to silence his favorite’s sassy words “She talked of summoning the Slayer here, now, at this time, and you didn’t  _kill_ her?” Nikki smirked drumming her fingernails on the chair as the two vampires almost cowered back.

“Well, they had crosses,” Willow answered quietly as if she was being nagged by a parent “The plant begins operation in less than twenty-four hours,” The Master steps up to them “You  _will_ find this girl," he reaches out to stroke their cheeks “You  _will_ kill her before she contacts the Slayer. Or I’ll see you two kissing  _daylight_ ”.

Turning to Nikki he placed a hand on her cheek as she looks up at him in absolute adoration “we all know how I hate insolence and insubordination” Xander and Willow shiver at the threat they both knew the story of how the Slayer sister came to be a vampire.

Not wasting any time the two leave quickly to find Cordelia as The Master sits back in his throne next to his sired child “Soon the world will be ours, child,  _we are the future_ ” Nikki grins at her Sire’s words she liked the thought of ruling the world and with The Master by her side she would rule it with an iron fist.

* * *

Cordelia groans as she regains consciousness. Giles comes rushing down to her from the stacks and tries to keep her from getting up too fast “Hey! Hey...” Cordelia seeing the Watcher starts to talk frantically “Giles! It’s all my fault! I wasn’t... I made this  _stupid_  wish...”

Giles gently tries to lie the young girl back down believing her to be hysterical “Come on. Please lie...” Cordelia shakes her head adamantly “ _No!_  You have to get Buffy. Buffy changes it”.

Giles lets go of her as she continues to babble “It wasn’t like this. It was better. I mean, the clothes alone...” Giles takes off his glasses “But people were happy. Mostly. And... Wait," Cordelia slides off of the table confused “Why are you here and she’s not? I mean, y-you were her Watcher”.

Giles is amazed by what he’s hearing “H-how do you know I was a Watcher? I’ve  _never_...” They hear a series of thumps and taps outside “ _What?_ ” Cordelia gasps as Giles looks around carefully and puts his glasses back on.

“What?” The lost teenager’s questions again sounding worried “I thought I heard something” Giles tells her offhandedly as he goes into the cage and grabs a large cross and a stake from the weapons cabinet.

“Now, I want you to start again and explain everything very carefully” Before he can come out, he finds the cage door slammed shut on him “You’re in a big cage” Willow taunts him with the key. 

Xander has Cordelia pinned against him with his hand over her mouth as Willow looks over at him “Not too bright, Book Guy” Willow turns back to Giles, who slams the cross against the cage, forcing Willow back making her growls angrily. 

Xander forces Cordelia closer angry at how Giles treated Willow “So you’re a  _Watcher_ , huh?” he smiles widely with a manic gleam in his eye “Watch this” He lets go of Cordelia’s mouth and sinks his teeth into her neck. 

Giles rattles the cage hard in protest, helpless to do anything. Willow smiles at him then turns around and bites Cordelia also on the other side of her neck. 

Together they suck her dry, Xander reaches his arm around Willow’s head and caresses her hair almost as if they were dancing sensually. Giles rages in anger as he is forced to watch the girl he couldn’t help be drained painfully.

Soon Cordelia is dead, and Xander pushes her lifeless body aside, letting it fall to the floor before he starts out of the library. Willow gives Giles a smile and tosses the key at him as she also leaves. 

Giles pants heavily as he looks down at the body of the latest victim of these two vampires. Grabbing a weapon from his storage cupboard he swings at the cage door with the double-bladed battle-ax. 

It soon gives way and opens, and he rushes out to check on Cordelia. He feels for a pulse in denial but he’s too late, he already knew the young girl was dead having seen her take her last breath. 

Larry and Oz come running in through the stacks looking worse for wear “They hit us right outside” Larry exclaimed as Giles glanced at the two boys noticing they were missing someone “ _Nancy?_ ”

The two boys shift uncomfortably “She’s dead," Giles takes the news as well as can be expected “Um... Would you mind... Could you take her to the incinerator? I have some business to...”

Larry and Oz set themselves to their grim task, Oz goes around to get her legs, Larry grabs her by the shoulders. Just as they are about to go, Giles notices the pendant around her neck “Wait a moment”. He takes it off, and the boys carry her body away.

* * *

The Master takes a fresh hot demitasse of blood espresso from his machine and sips it. He blows on it and takes another sip “Anything for you my dear” he asks Nikki who just blows air out of her mouth seemingly bored. 

Behind him Xander and Willow report back from their mission, The Master turns to face them expectantly “The deed is done” Xander informs as Nikki sits up straighter “You killed the girl that sought the Slayer?” The Master questions as the two vampire nod.

“It was  _too_ easy” Xander shrugged like he hadn’t just drained the girl he used to fawn over “I felt cheap” Willow pouted childlike as the Master grinned happily “Excellent. The opening will commence as scheduled” he takes another sip of his drink.

Willow approaches eagerly “So, you’re pleased?” The Master nods at the redhead as Nikki wonders about Willow’s game “Ecstatic” The older vampire states as Willow’s eyes quickly passes over Nikki before returning to The Master innocently “Then... can I  _play_ with the puppy?”.

Nikki grits her teeth as Willow directs her question to her sire knowing she’d probably get her own way, The Master directs his gaze to Nikki whose nails clenched that chair tightly “ _child?_ ”.

Nikki growls before taking the key from around her neck, Willow smiles and claps happily “ _Let’s go_ ” Nikki hisses as she leads Willow and Xander down to the basement, the place where she takes her toys, the place that usually strikes fear in other vampires knowing the extent of her heinousness.

The approaches the jail cell that was built in the basement and Willow begins to giggle to herself “Bored now” Nikki rolls her eyes at Willow’s famous trademark as the redhead walks over to the wall of whips, chains and other instruments of torture.

“Daytime’s the worst” she runs her hand over the leather “Cooped up for hours. Can’t hunt” She takes a pair of iron shears and clinks it along the bars of the cell “But the Master said I could play” Nikki coughs loudly making Willow sigh “ _Nikki_ , said I could play”.

Inside the cage, a figure stirs “Isn’t that fun, Puppy?” reaching out to take the key from Nikki’s outstretched hand she gasps when the brunette’s other hand locks around Willow’s own squeezing a little.

“Don’t  _forget_ my rules Willow: No letting him out of his cage, No killing him” Nikki steps closer to the other female and letting her voice drop lower as she clenches Willows hand tighter hearing bones crunch.

“And most importantly... he is  _my_  pet” She finishes possessively looking over her pet as he bows his head at her much like Willow at this moment but she made no move to try to get out of Nikki’s grip “Don't  _disappoint_ me Willow”.

Smiling deviously Nikki soon lets go of Willow and gives her the key, she unlocks the cell door and swings it in “Aw... Puppy’s being all quiet. Come on. Don’t be a spoilsport”.

Nikki’s pet groans as Willow straddles him. She grabs him by the hair and jerks his head up. Angel moans from the rough treatment, he seems short of breath “Guess what today is?” Willow runs the tip of the shears along his chin and down his throat.

“Today the plant opens. It’s a big party," She licks him from the base of his ear to his forehead and runs her sharp fingernails along his neck as Nikki stands back with her arms crossed "You remember I told you about the plant? All those people you tried to save? It’s gonna be quick for them. Not for you though. It’s gonna be slow for you”.

She flips him over onto his back and straddles his stomach, Angel lets out a painful moan from all his previous torture “Wow, you’ve completely  _broken_ him” Xander laughs as he stands next to his superior looking at her in amazement as Willow continues to taunt Angel.

Nikki grins at Xander “It wasn’t easy but I found there’s more than  _one_ way to break a person” Xander is in awe of Nikki as she manically laughs, Angel cries out when Willow rips open his shirt to reveal several very deep and bloody wounds on his chest that had been left by Nikki. 

When she touches them he flinches hard “Oh... Maybe Nikki went too hard on you last time” Willow cooed toying with the older vampire as he continued to let out small whimpers, Xander strikes a wooden kitchen match with his thumbnail and tosses it onto Angel’s chest.

Angel cries out in pain “ _Too_ hard? No such thing” Xander boasts glancing back at Nikki almost as if he was trying to gauge her reaction, he wanted to please her, their place in the Master’s inner circle wasn’t secure if Nikki deemed them to be  _soft_ and useless.

“Watch it with those things. You almost got my hair” Willow hissed at her lover who just shrugged uncaring “ _Sorry_. Got carried away” He tosses her the large box of matches “Don’t you want to?” She questions surprised as Xander shakes his head “No, thanks, baby. I just wanna watch you go”.

Willow smiles and turns her full attention on Angel. She lights another match and places it inside one of Angel’s deep wounds forcing him to scream out in agony, Nikki only looked on in annoyance of having to share her toy.

* * *

Giles is sat in his office while Oz tunes the crossbow and Larry carves stakes in the main area “Here it is! I’ve found it” Giles cheers as he comes out of his office “ _Look_ ” He sets down a book which is opened to a page with a sketch of Cordelia’s pendant.

“It’s what, um, Cordelia was wearing. It’s the, the, uh, symbol of, of Anyanka," Giles explains as Oz looks up at the older man bewildered “I don’t think I know her”.

“Well, no. Um, Anyanka is a, sort of a Patron Saint of scorned women” Giles informs the boys as he sits on the table taking off his glasses “What does she do?” Larry questions the librarian.

Settling the arm of his glasses between his teeth Giles flips to the next page of the book “Uh, sh-she grants wishes” Still tuning the bow Oz glances at Giles confused “So Cordelia wished for something? Well, if it was a long, healthy life, she should get her money back”.

“She said something about everything being different, that the... the world wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was, um, better. Before," Giles frowns trying to decipher the now dead girl’s words.

“Okay. The entire world sucks because some dead ditz made a wish?” Larry snorts as he gets looks from Giles and Oz, the former putting his glasses back on “I just, I just want it clear” he shrugs continuing with his stake whittling.

“She said the, uh... the Slayer was supposed to be here, was, um, meant to have been here already,” The older man recalls “Certainly would’ve helped," Oz mutters what they were all thinking.

“Yes. I tried calling her, but, um...” he stands up off the table with a tired sigh “Look, I’m, I’m, I’m gonna have to... research this Anyanka thing further. Um, I have some more... volumes at, at home. You two, two get some sleep," Giles starts off leaving the two boys behind “Watch your back” Oz calls before Giles is gone.

Driving along in his ancient Citroen he drives by a park he sees a bunch of people being herded into a van. He stops his car, grabs his large cross and rushes over to help. 

He holds the cross up to the two vampires, who are forced to back away, and yells to the people in the van “Run!” When the people have all run away, he turns to run back to his car, but a third vampire slams the rear van door into his face, knocking him flat on his back. 

They try to grab him to load up, but the one at his feet suddenly finds himself flying through the air and landing hard on his back. The other two attack, but meet with similar fates. 

The first one runs at his attacker again but gets staked. The attacker grabs another and stakes him whilst the others flee. Giles looks up at the person standing at his feet in amazement “ _Buffy Summers?_ ”

Giles looks at the girl as she stands in front of him, she's dressed in cargo pants holding a stake in one hand and a crossbow in the other but it was the scar across her mouth and the hollow look in her eyes that gets his attention “That's right. Wanna tell me what I'm doing here?”

* * *

Buffy looks around Giles’ apartment bored out of her mind whilst Giles is on the stairs looking through a book and finally finds something “Ah! Ah! Ah! Yes!” he glances at Buffy and stands up “Here” he motions to the book as he reads aloud.

“In order to defeat Anyanka, one must destroy her power center," Giles walks down the steps “This should reverse all the wishes she’s granted, rendering her mortal and powerless again. You see? Without her power center, she’d j-just be a-a-an ordinary woman again, and all this would be, um... well, different”

Giles receives no reaction from the stoic blonde Slayer “Well, I’d say that my, my Watcher muscles haven’t completely atrophied after all” he jokes closing the book and takes off his glasses.

Buffy glances at him totally unimpressed “Great. What’s her power center?” she questions hastily ready to get down to business and get out of this little town “Um, well, um, um...” placing his glasses between his teeth he glances at the book again “It doesn’t say”.

Buffy stands in front of Giles her hands on her hips like she had better places to be “Why don’t I just put a stake through her heart?” she moves towards his kitchen bar”

“She’s not a vampire” Giles replies to the Slayer “Mm, well, you’d be surprised how many things that’ll kill,” Buffy says as she sniffs a liqueur bottle grimacing a little.

“I don’t want to kill her, Miss. Summers. I want to reverse whatever effect she’s had on this, this... world” Buffy puts the bottle back down and turns to face him “You’re taking an awful lot on faith here, Jeeves”.

“Giles," The Watcher/Librarian corrected as Buffy shrugs uncaring “Kill the bad fairy... destroy the bad fairy’s power center, whatever, and all the troubles go away?”.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure it’s not that simple, but...” Buffy interrupts before Giles can get any more words out “World is what it is. We fight. We die. Wishing doesn’t change that”.

Giles shakes his head in denial “I have to believe in a better world” Buffy once again shrugs looking at the man like he was stupid “Go ahead. I have to live in this one”.

She strolls over to his chess table, lifts her right leg up to set her boot on its edge and spits into her hand to literally give it a spit shine “Cordelia said she knew that I was meant to be your Watcher. She said she knew you” Giles informs the girl.

Buffy works her spit into the leather “She’s probably just a big fan," Giles huffs in thought “The Master sent his most vicious disciples to kill her. Now, she, she must have posed some threat to him. Even his right-hand vampire was seen with Cordelia before her death," he puts his glasses back on.

Buffy looks up suddenly attentive “The Master?” she questions as Giles glances over at her “Um, supreme vampire around these parts. He, he lives on the outskirts of town in an old club” he explains as Buffy stands up.

“You know where he lives, and no one’s ever tried to take him out?” Buffy says accusingly as Giles seemed dismayed “People have tried. The Master’s right-hand is highly viscous, if you see her there’s a slim chance you get away with all of your body parts”.

Buffy grits her teeth “Well, point the way. I might as well do some good while I’m in this town” she goes to get her weapons “You can’t just walk in there and...” Buffy whirls around her face scrunched up in anger and something else the older man can’t place.

“I have to stop Nikki, I’m the only one who can,” Buffy tells the man who seems surprised that Buffy knew the brunette vampire “How... How did you know?” Giles begins as the blonde sighs roughly “Nikki.. is my sister”.

Giles staggers back a little “Your sister?” Buffy nods like she was uncomfortable “My twin sister” rubbing a hand over his face Giles looked confused “A Slayer with a vampire twin sister”.

“When I was called I fought the Master, I nearly killed him too, but he escaped our battle. The  _only_ vampire to ever get away," Buffy lets out a small broken laugh “He hunted my sister down and turned her into a soulless animal as a punishment for me”.

Buffy wrapped her arms around herself as Giles listened intently “Nikki blamed me, I didn’t  _protect_ her from him, I let a vampire hurt her in the  _worst_ way” Buffy sniffed and tried to hide her sorrow “You know what she did to  _punish_ me?” Giles shook his head dreading the outcome of Buffy’s ‘punishment’.

“She  _murdered_ our parents, she didn’t drain them or take even a sip of their blood. She tortured them for  _hours_ before finally putting them down. She took everything from me, she wanted me to feel the way she felt," the blonde let out a hysterical laugh “even after all that I still couldn’t  _kill_ her, I  _couldn’t_ drive a stake through her heart”.

Giles had no idea what to say, everyone knew Nikki as being a sociopathic, brutal monster but now he knew why “The Master warped her mind, he broke her down but I can’t let her get away with this anymore”.

Buffy straightens up once again looking determined “Look, you wanna stay here and play make-believe, fine," she puts her crossbow strap over her shoulder “I’m not gonna be any help to you, anyway. There’s only one thing I’m good at,".

Giles quickly steps in front of her “At least let’s muster some kind of force," Buffy snorts like he had told her a bad joke “I don’t play well with others. Now, I’m gonna ask you this once, and then I’m gonna get testy," Giles gives in and tosses his book onto his desk “ _Where’s this club?_ ”.

* * *

 

Standing next to her Sire on a stage, Willow and Xander behind them, Nikki held her hands behind her back as she gazed over the crowd protectively, ever since Buffy’s name came up she had been on high alert in case her twin came to town.

The crowd of gathering vampires stood in front of Nikki and the master as a wooden cage full of humans and a machine waited across the room. The Master raised his hands and all vampire suddenly quietened down respectfully.

“Vampires,  _come!_  Behold the technical wonder, which is about to alter the very fabric of our society. Some have argued that such an advancement goes against our nature. They claim that death is our art. I say to them... Well, I don’t say anything to them because I kill them. Undeniably we are the world’s superior race”.

Nikki noticed vampires were nodding along with her Sire as his voice carried across the room “Yet we have always been too parochial, too bound by the mindless routine of the predator. Hunt and kill, hunt and kill. Titillating? Yes. Practical? Hardly”.

The vampires below them started to talk among themselves “Meanwhile, the humans, with their plebeian minds, have brought us a truly demonic concept," The Master spreads his arms “ _mass production!_ ”

Vampires cheered from every corner of the factory “Yeah! Yeah!” Nikki’s lips curled into a smirk, they were one step closer to their future, they would rule and no one could take it from them now.

* * *

Giles is stood in his apartment he has several bags and bowls of various herbs and powders laid out on his chess table. He grabs a couple of them and goes over to his desk with them where he has a large golden goblet already smoldering. 

He pulls bits of an herb from a bushel and drops them into the goblet as he recites the ritual to summon Anyanka “Oh... Anyanka... I-I beseech thee...” he puts on his glasses to read.

“Um...” he turns a page shakily “In the name of all women scorned...” he adds more herb to the fire “Come before me” He looks around his apartment to see where she might appear.

She does so, but in the shadows under the stairs to his loft, where he doesn’t notice. Slowly she walks into the dim light of the room “Oh!” Giles jumps and lets out a nervous breath after seeing her.

“Do you have  _any_ idea what I do to a man who uses that spell to summon me?” Giles gazes at her with a look of foreboding.

* * *

“Bring on the first!” Nikki calls out from her space next to The Master as he's eager to try out the machine they had worked so hard on. At the cage, the vampires shove a couple of the humans back from the gate, lift off the crossbar and open it.

Oz realizes what's about to happen, but can't do anything. Two vampires go into the cage and choose a victim “You!” one of them points to and grabs Cordette “Nooo! No! Please! No! Help me! No! Noooo!”

Some of the men in the cage attempt to resist and help her, but they are easily knocked aside. Once they have her outside, one of them shocks her with a cattle prod making her body go limp “ _Idiots_ ” Nikki mutters under her breath.

The gates to the cage are closed, and the mortals all gather to watch in horror, the two vampires drag her to the end of the machine. One of them lifts her into a long stainless steel pan like the ones used for autopsies and lays her down in it

“She's still alive, you see, for the freshness” The Master states as all the vampires in the factory watch on in expectancy.

The machine is turned on, and the pan moves along the conveyor to the blood draining station. On either side are four arms that extend over the Cordette, each with a very large needle on the end.

They all plunge into her body and begin to suck the blood from it. At one end of the contraption is a tap for sampling the blood, and a glass is filled for the Master to taste.

In the cage, Larry and Oz watch in disbelief.

At the back of the factory, Buffy and Angel peek around a corner. On the machine, Cordette lets out her last few muffled sounds and dies “What's the plan?” Angel questions Buffy who just holds up her stake “Don't fall on this”.

The glass with the blood sample is passed up to the Master.

Buffy and Angel calmly make their way through the crowd of vampires toward the stage, Buffy sees her sister standing on the stage acting as a soldier, her eyes watching her Sire closely. 

The Master rubs his fingers in anticipation of the first taste of blood from his new machine. The arms extract themselves from Cordette, and the pan with her body moves along the conveyor for disposal. 

The glass of blood is finally handed up to the Master, he holds it up to his subjects for a toast “Welcome to the  _future_ ” He cheers as Nikki turns her head slightly almost as if in tune with  _something_ else.

“To the future! To the future! To the future!” Buffy raises her crossbow at the Master and fires, Nikki quickly pushes Xander in front of The Master and the bolt hits him in the right shoulder. 

Buffy aims the crossbow at another target, but it gets knocked from her hand “ _Buffy_ ” Nikki growls seeing the other half of her causing panic on hers and her Sire’s  _big_ day. 

Panic sets in among the vampires as they run off “ _Cowards_ ” Nikki states as most of them leave with their tails tucked between their legs but a few stay behind to fight the  _Slayer_.

Buffy ducks a wide swing from a vampire, she jumps up and brings her foot down to smash the back of his knee. Angel attacks a vampire by the cage, punches him in the face and shoves him aside, he rushes over to the gate and throws off the crossbar.

“Uh-oh. Puppy  _got_ out” Willow taunts into Nikki’s ear as she fumes seeing her pet running around with her sister acting like a  _hero_.

Angel throws open the cage’s gate and pulls people out. Buffy twists a vampire’s arm around, immobilizing him, and does a jumping roundhouse kick to his gut. 

The crowd of humans streams into the fray. Oz reaches up and breaks a piece off of one of the wooden cage bars. He immediately jams it into the back of a vampire. All around humans and vampires fight. 

“Get down there  _now!_ ” I order Xander and Willow who jump down from the stage into the crowd, their game faces on ready to defend The Master.

* * *

Anyanka slowly approaches Giles, who bravely stands his ground “Cordelia Chase. What did she wish for?” He questions the demon who smiles deviously at him “I had no idea her wish would be so exciting! Brave New World. I hope she likes it”.

Giles glares at the woman “She's dead” Anyanka wastes no time as shrugs “It happens” Unbelieving at her attitude Giles huffs at her “You're gonna change it back”.

Anyanka finally gets too close, and he takes a couple of steps back “I'm not afraid of you. Your only power lies in the wishing” Anyanka makes a sudden and hard grab for his neck “ _Wrong!_ ” She lifts him and slams him against a wall.

“This is the real world now,” Anyanka tells Giles as he groans in pain “This is the world we made. Isn't it  _wonderful?_ ” she says gleefully not believing this was the world Cordelia had wished for them to be in.

* * *

Seeing my sister defeat all of our vampires I look to my Sire who nods and waves me forward, jumping off the stage I let out a loud roar as my sister turns to me “Hey  _B_ ” I greet changing into my game face “long time, no kill”.

The surrounding area is in chaos but right now at this moment it was sister vs sister, Slayer vs Vampire “it’s time to  _end_ this Nikki” Buffy hisses at her sister who nods with a wild grin “I couldn’t agree more  _sister_ ”.

Nikki ducks a swing from Buffy and stomps on the back of her knee. She grabs her by her shirt and throws her twin over the conveyor “I don’t need to be a Slayer to beat you, hell I don’t even need to be a vampire, you’ll always be that lollipop eating, preppy cheerleader to me,  _princess_ ”.

Buffy grits her teeth at her sister’s words as she gets up and punches her in the face “that was before you  _killed_ our parents and made me into  _this_ ” Buffy spat as Nikki reeled back from the hit, jumping back up from the floor Nikki smirked “okay I’ll admit that was  _nasty_ ”.

Buffy swings at Nikki but misses as she ducks the punch. Nikki backhand punches Buffy in the face and follows up with a roundhouse kick to her stomach “I think  _I’ll_ take that” Nikki grins as she rips the stake out of her sister’s hand and places it in her waistband.

Buffy sensing her sister’s closeness gets up in time to backhand punch her. She spins around again grabs onto her shoulder and yanks her body down to meet her knee, getting Nikki twice in the gut and then in the face. 

Nikki groans realizing she and her sister are both evenly matched “time to  _die_ cupcake” she whispers and gets to her feet and comes at Buffy who was hand to hand with another vampire. Angel sees Nikki make her move, and runs to Buffy’s aid “ _Buffy_ , look out!”

Angel runs past her and throws himself at the vampire who had been the main cause of his pain, wrapping his arms around Nikki he tries to hold her still knowing Buffy would want to take care of her sister.

Nikki elbows Angel in the gut viciously before uppercutting him “I’m really sorry to see you go pet but if I can’t have you neither can  _she_ ” Nikki pulls out Buffy’s stake and impales Angel who turns to face Buffy and grabs his wound.

“ _Buffy..._ ” he whispers as he crumbles to ash. Buffy takes it like he’s just another dead vampire, and marches over to another fray of the fight she turns her attention back to Xander, who is just throwing a man aside. He sees her coming and advances on her in turn. 

He swings at Buffy, and she punches his arm away. Taking advantage of the opening, she swings her stake into his chest, and he explodes into ashes. Without a care, Buffy turns back around and looks for her next victim. 

Willow sees her love staked and makes a move toward Buffy, but Larry grabs her by an arm and tries to pull her back.

 Oz shakes free of a vampire and runs to Larry’s assistance, grabbing her by the waist and shoving her back into a broken piece of the cage she instantly bursts into ashes “ _Bored now_ ” Nikki mocks not caring that the two sidekicks were dead.

Looking around the battlefield Nikki roars as her numbers deplete and marches over to where the two White Hat boys were fighting, grabbing the bigger one she twists his neck quickly before either of them realize she’s there.

The ginger gulps before throwing himself at her, she could have laughed at her fearlessness but she was too angry to bother “ _goodnight darling_ ” Nikki coos as he  _barks_ threats and insults at her but he’s no match for her strength.

Pulling his neck to the side she rips her teeth into the side of his neck as she holds him closer, smirking when his body went limp in her arms. Turning Nikki notices her sister making her way over to her Sire as The Master does the same.

He slides down the stair railings from the stage and shoves aside the vampire and mortal blocking his way. Buffy begins a determined stride in his direction, the Master shoves more people and vampires aside in his determination to get at the Slayer as Buffy does the same.

Buffy and the Master finally meet with swings that middle block each other. Buffy tries to wrap her hands around the Master’s forearm “I’ll make you  _pay_ for what you’ve done”.

* * *

Giles chokes as Anyanka’s grip tightens on him, just then he notices the amulet around Anyanka’s neck begin to glow green, and makes a grab for it, wresting it from her neck. 

This causes her to let go of him, and he backhand punches her in the face, sending her staggering across the room. He scrambles to his desk, lays the amulet on it and searches frantically for something to smash it with. 

He soon has his marble paperweight in his hand as Anyanka gets up from the floor “You trusting fool! How do you know the other world is any better than this?” Giles raises the paperweight and swings it down with full force at Anyanka’s amulet “ _No!_ ” she screams as Giles just looks at her peacefully “Because it has to be”.

* * *

The Master does a backhand swing, snapping Buffy’s head back, dazing her. Nikki suddenly jumps up from behind her sister and grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her to her chest as The Master grabs Buffy’s head.

The Master gives Buffy’s head a hard twist, snapping her neck, Buffy’s expression is blank as she begins to sink to the floor looking up at her sister one last time.

* * *

Giles quickly swings down his arm as he smashes the paperweight onto Anyanka’s amulet. It shatters into thousands of pieces and emits a burst of green light.

* * *

Nikki watches as Buffy’s body falls, her face unchanging as the other half to her whole, the Yin to her Yang takes her last breath “here lies Buffy Summers, she died for  _nothing_ , she  _didn’t_ save the world” The brunette vampire laughs loudly “killing you was my  _best_ revenge yet”.

* * *

“ _ **I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale**_ ” Anya suddenly turns back to Cordelia “ _Done_ ” I crossed my arms rolling my eyes at my friend's dramatics I pushed my blonde hair out of my face “ _Ouch_ Cordy”.

Cordelia grabs my arms excitedly as she dismisses my words “That would be cool! No, wait. I wish Buffy Summers had never been  _born_ ” Anya frowns looking lost “ _Done!_ ”.

I raise my eyebrow at Cordelia “What the  _hell_ Cordy, that means I won't get born either” Cordelia nods at my words and waves her hands as if erasing her wish “I  _wish_ that Xander Harris never again knows the touch of a woman” Cordelia smiles and starts to walk away.

“ _And_  that Willow wakes up tomorrow covered in monkey hair” Anya looks down at herself in confusion “ _Done!_ ” I turn to Anya wondering what she was talking about “what's  _done?_ ” the older blonde just lets out a frustrated squeal and stomps off.

Watching Giles walks past me he makes a point of checking his watch and motioning at me, I just smile at him and nod as I turn to see my other friends all smiling and talking cheerfully among themselves “Idiots” I whisper fondly turning to walk off.

Suddenly I bump into something hard “Hey watch...” my words die out when I notice it was Beck “why are you avoiding me” he demanded as I try to walk around him only managing to get to the stairs.

Beck followed me and grabbed my arm gently pulling me under the stairs for privacy “ _Please_ I just want to know” sighing I carefully took his hand and pushed it off “I  _like_ you that's why I'm avoiding you” I tell him honestly as confusion forms over his face “you've not spoken to me in 3 days because you  _like_ me?”.

Placing my bag on the floor I crossed my arms in comfort “You're leaving soon, and I didn't  _and_ still don't know how I'm going to keep myself going whilst you're not here” I licked my lips as Beck stayed quiet knowing I would only put my walls back up if he argued with me.

“Being with you made me forget just how much I  _hate_ myself,  _you_ made me forget all the bad things that had happened and helped me get through my hard days," I stopped thinking about my next words carefully “ _but_ I also know it’s not safe for you to be with me, if anything my sister’s last  _relationship_ made me realize that”.

Beck sighed running a hand through his dark curly hair as he bent down slightly to look in my eyes “I have  _no_ idea what you’re talking about but I know by now not to ask,  _the late nights_ , the missed dates and the way you and your friends talk about weird things when you think I’m  _not_ listening”.

I let out a small laugh knowing how sneaky he was “but I know if it was something I could know you would have told me by now, I trust you, but please don’t force yourself out of my life I want you in any way I can, even if that means being a pen pal," Beck jokes as he wipes away my tears.

“I really did like you but I know I have to set you free,” I say as I move back slightly “ _I... I love you_ ” wrapping my arms around his neck I place my lips on his for one final kiss before he pulls me into his chest swaying the two of us sweetly “I love you too”.

Pushing him away gently I picked up my bag before looking over my left shoulder at my sister who was still sat with Willow and Xander oblivious to my heartbreaking, turning my head to look over my right shoulder I faced the way to our house.

Lifting up my backpack higher on my arm I let out a heavy sigh before making the lonely walk home wishing that I had never come to Sunnydale.


End file.
